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THE WEALTH OF
THE SEA

rhotograiih by Dr. A. D. Holmes

THE GLOU( ESTER FISHERMAN

Monument to the eight tliousand who have been lost at sea

211

THE WEALTH OF ^

THE SEA

BY

DONALD K. TRESSLER, Ph.D.

MELLON INSTITUTE OF INDU8TEUAL RESEABCH

Illustrated tenth
photographs and drawings

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T9M

THE CENTURY CO.

New York ^ London

Copyright, 1927, by
The Century Co.

First printing^ August, 1927.

Printed in U. S. A.

PREFACE

This book is a popular presentation of many in-
teresting facts concerning the production, nature,
and uses of the great variety of commercial products
of the sea. These marine treasures include jewels,
buttons, ornaments, perfumes, tortoise-shell, foods,
condiments, medicinals, chemicals, oils, fats, waxes,
glues, jellies, sizes, cements, stock foods, fertilizers,
leather, furs, lime, poultry grit, sponges, and whale-
bone. The production of each one of these is an
important industry. In most of these industries one
finds lively sport and gripping romance. Whaling
is as thrilling as elephant hunting. Pearl fishing
offers as much romance as diamond mining. Ocean
fishing has a fascination which holds many of our
bravest* and strongest men. The source of this great
wealth, the restless, ever changing sea itself seems
to enchant every one who once comes within its spell.
The author has attempted to present these in-
dustries in such a way as to furnish both informa-
tion and entertainment, and hopes that this book
will be of interest not only to those who are pri-
marily interested in marine products, but also to
the general reader and to students of commercial
geography, biology, geology, chemistry, ocean-
ography, and navigation. Obviously in a general
survey such as this it is impossible to enter into

vi PREFACE

great detail in the consideration of the multitude of
marine products. This book, however, will give the
reader a general conception of the fishery and
marine products industries. If further details or
statistical data are desired, they may be found in
the author's "Marine Products of Commerce." ^

Since it is not possible to discuss the fishery
methods employed in all parts of the world in the
space of a few hundred pages, American methods
and products have been described in most instances.
In the case of products which are not produced in
quantity in this country, such as pearls and coral,
the more important foreign methods have been given
consideration.

In order to make the book interesting to the
general reader, the descriptions of technical proc-
esses have been made simple, non-technical, and brief.
Scientific names and technical terms have been
omitted in nearly all cases, and care has been used
to define all unusual words and phrases. While the
author has attempted to make the book a readable
one and has for this reason included some unusual
and curious tales of the fisheries, those which are
not absolutely authentic are clearly indicated.

The author owes much to those who aided in the
preparation of this book. Special thanks are due
Dr. Samuel F. Hildebrand, of the U. S. Bureau of
Fisheries, for the preparation of the sections
"Fishes" and "Marine Turtles and Terrapins." Mr.
M. P. Greenwood Adams, of Melbourne, Australia,
Mr. Lewis Radcliffe, U. S. deputy commissioner of
^ Published by Chemical Catalog Company, New York, 1923.

PREFACE vii

fisheries, and Dr. Arthur D. Holmes, of The E. L.
Patch Company, were very kind to aid in supplying
the illustrations. The author also wishes to thank
Mr. Ernest F. Holt, of the Carnegie Museum, Mr.
Hugh A. Wing, of the University of Pittsburgh, and
Miss C. H. Watkins, of Ellicott City, Maryland, for
their invaluable aid in revising the manuscript.

D.K.T.

CONTENTS

PAGB
CHAPTEE a

I The Sea

II Fishery Products in Everyday Life . . 26

III The Manufacture of Salt from Sea-
Water

IV Iodine and Other Chemicals from Sea-
Water

77
V Edible Seaweeds

VI Pearls, Mother-of-Pearl, and Imitation
Pearls

^ 117

VII Precious Coral

128
VIII Fishes

1 53
IX America's Fisheries

X The Value of Fish and Shell-Fish as

OOD

XI The Preservation of Fish

XII By-Products of the Fishery Industries . 212

XIII Oysters, Clams, and Other Mollusks . 230

XIV Lobsters, Crab, and Shrimp .... 257

XV Marine Turtles and Terrapins . . . 278

XVI Whales and Whaling ^^^

XVII The Fur-Seal Industry ^^^

XVIII Sponges and the Sponge Industry . . 324-

T ... 335
Index

IX

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE GLOUCESTER FISHERMAN FTOntispieCe

FACING PAGE

u. s. s. "albatross" 16

THE SURF 17

MENHADEN SETTLING TANKS 82

FISH SKINS FOR GLUE MANUFACTURE 32

A BRAZILIAN SEA SALINE 33

HUGE CRYSTALS OF SEA SALT 33

HARVESTING SALT IN CALIFORNIA 33

FRONT VIEW OF KELP HARVESTER 72

SIDE VIEW OF KELP HARVESTER 72

DRYING IRISH MOSS AT SCITUATE 73

BUNDLES OF DRIED AGAR READY FOR MARKET ... 73

MALAY PEARL DIVER 112

WEIGHING MOTHER-OF-PEARL SHELL 113

A YOUNG POTOMAC STURGEON 128

A FIVE-FOOT THRESHER SHARK 128

A FLYING FISH 128

A SAW-FISH 129

MOSQUITO-EATING TOP MINNOWS 129

EGG AND EGG-CASES OF FISHES 144

COD EGGS FOR BUREAU OF FISHERIES ...... 145

SCHOONERS IN GLOUCESTER HARBOR 160

NEWFOUNDLAND SCHOONERS OFF THE BANKS . . . 161

xi

xii ILLUSTRATIONS

PACIlfG PAGB

VITAMINES AND THE LACK OF THEM 176

DRYING SALT COD AT GLOUCESTER 177

MAINE HERRING WIRE 192

MODEL OF SALMON TRAP 193

FISH WHEEL ON COLUMBIA RIVER 193

ADULT MALE CHINOOK SALMON 224

AN ALASKAN SALMON CANNERY 224

A TIGER SHARK 225

A STING RAY 225

SEA-LIONS 225

TONGING OYSTERS 240

DREDGING OYSTERS 241

A LOBSTER-POT 272

BAITING TROT-LINE FOR CRABS 272

SOFT CRABS READY FOR MARKET 273

CRAB FLOAT 273

GREEN TURTLES ON AUSTRALIAN BEACH 288

AN AUSTRALIAN TURTLe's NEST UNEARTHED . . . 289

NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE (mALe) .... 304

A SPERM-WHALE 304

whale's jaw SPLIT TO SHOW WHALEBONE .... 305

DUGONGS CAPTURED IN AUSTRALIA 305

PRIBILOF FUR-SEAL ROOKERY 320

A GROUP OF FUR-SEAL COWS 321

SHEEPSWOOL SPONGE FROM FLORIDA 321

THE WEALTH OF
THE SEA

THE WEALTH
OF THE SEA

CHAPTER I

The Sea

THE ocean has often been said to be the seat
of enduring power, for the nation that is able
to rule the ocean rules the world. Even small
states, able by their powerful navies to maintain
control of the sea, have dominated the world. Greece,
Tyre, Pisa, Genoa, Venice, Portugal, and Holland
were all great powers merely because they ruled the
waves. When Carthage lost control of the Mediter-
ranean she soon bowed to Rome. The defeat of the
Spanish Ai'mada marked the end of the ascendancy
of Spain. The failure of Germany in the World War
may be largely ascribed to her inability to wrest
control of the sea from the British either by
submarine or marine warfare.

The best schools for hardy, daring sailors are
fishing and whaling fleets. Such men come to know
the sea, and easily learn how to sail ships of war.
Skill in the construction of war-ships is obtained
by the training gained in the building of fishing
and merchant vessels. The captains of fishing and

3

4 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

whaling vessels are excellent navigators, for they
are more familiar with the coastal waters than any
one else.

Oceanography and navigation are sciences which
go hand in hand in the development of both fishing
fleets and navies. Since the location and extent of
the fisheries are controlled largely by the tempera-
ture, depth, salinity, purity, and amount of plankton
(minute organisms which float with the currents)
I of the waters, brief mention of these factors will be
made in this section. Their consideration will be
worth the while of any one interested in the fisheries.
Such a survey will also give much information con-
cerning the various forms of marine life and the
conditions under which it exists.

The early Greeks and Phenicians laid the founda-
tions of oceanography. In the fourth century b.c,
the astronomer Pytheas sailed from the Mediter-
ranean to the North Sea and made notable
contributions to the oceanography of the Atlantic
Ocean and the North Sea. He learned how to deter-
mine latitude and discovered that the tides were
caused by the moon.

Later, in the first century B.C., the Greek geog-
rapher Strabo made the first deep-sea soundings,
measuring depths down to 1000 fathoms. Pliny, in
his "Historia Naturalis," recorded 176 marine ani-
mals, and was well pleased with his catalogue, as he
believed that he had listed all the important marine
species.

Ptolemy, who lived in the second century a.d.,
prepared a map indicating that eastern Asia came

THE SEA 5

near to the west coast of Europe. This idea per-
sisted until the time of Columbus and had much to
do with the voyages of Columbus. Men like Vasco
da Gama, Magellan, and Cook, who came after
Columbus, learned much about the sea; but, during
the last hundred years, oceanographers with a
knowledge of the modern sciences of physics, chem-
istry, astronomy, and biology have vastly increased
our knowledge of the ocean. Edward Forbes, C.
Wyville Thomson, John Murray, Louis and Alex-
ander Agassiz, the Prince of Monaco, Anton Dohrn,
Johann Hjort, William A. Herdman, and others
have cleared up many of the mysteries of the briny
deep. These men have amassed an amazing amount
of information concerning the sea, which would
require a lifetime of study to master. The reports
of the Challenger expedition alone fill fifty large
quarto volumes. Therefore, in an account such as
this, we shall be able to consider only a few of the
most interesting facts concerning the ocean.

Area and Depth of the Ocean

Few of us have an accurate conception of the size
of the sea. A long voyage impresses the average
person with the great size of the ocean compared
to that of the land. The sea is 139,000,000 square
miles in area, and covers about seventy per cent of i^
the surface of the earth.

The globe may be divided into a land hemisphere,
with its pole near London, and a water hemisphere,
having its pole near New Zealand. The former

6 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

contains Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, and
most of South America. The only land occurring in
the water hemisphere is the East Indies, Australia,
the South Sea Isles, the southern part of South
America, and that around the South Pole.

Around the edges of the continents the oceans are
relatively shallow. These marginal portions down
to 600 feet in depth are really parts of the con-
tinental platforms and are called continental shelves.
In depths beyond 100 fathoms the bottom usually
drops off rapidly. Most of the ocean is very deep, its
average depth being 1916 fathoms; about three
fifths of it is between 2000 and 3000 fathoms. Little
of the floor of the ocean lies below this depth. There
are, however, fifty-seven known deeps, or valleys
in the ocean floor, which lie at depths of more than
3000 fathoms. Thirty-two of these deep places are
in the Pacific, the deepest of the oceans. The largest
and one of the deepest of them, the Tuscarora Deep,
is a depression running north and south in the North
Pacific to the east of Japan. Mount Everest, the
highest mountain on earth, could be dropped into
this deep, and its peak would be more than half a
mile below the surface. The Aldrich Deep, wKich
lies in the South Pacific, contains several places more
than 5000 fathoms in depth.

For the most part, however, the floor of the ocean
far from land is a nearly flat plain which might be
compared to the level parts of the Mississippi Valley
in which the gradients are so slight as to be scarcely
noticeable. On approaching the continents, the slope
rises steeply up to the continental shelf.

THE SEA 7

As yet, comparatively little of the floor of the
ocean has been sounded. Instruments have recently
been perfected which enable navigators to make
soundings while their ships are proceeding at full
speed. These instruments, variously called "sonic
depth finders" and "fathometers," measure the time
elapsing between the emission of a sound and the
return of the echo from the bottom of the sea. Sound
travels in water at the rate of 4800 feet a second.
Thus, if two seconds elapse between the emission
of the sound and the return of the echo, a depth
of 4800 feet is indicated. Of course the instruments
required to produce the sound, to hear the echo, and
to measure the time interval are rather complicated,
but they have been designed to work continuously
and automatically, and indicate depths without ad-
justment or attention as long as they are allowed to
operate.

Before many years topographic maps of the
floor of all the important parts of the ocean will be
prepared by the use of this instrument. Such maps
will be a great boon to navigation, as they will enable
navigators to find their exact position at any time
by noting the character of the bottom over which
their ships are passing. Navigators will be warned
by the depth finder as soon as their boats reach
shallow water ; thus few ships will run aground, and
many wrecks will be prevented.

The exact volume of the ocean cannot be estimated
until a topographic map of its floor is prepared.
Scientists have variously estimated the volume to be
between 300 and 320 millions of cubic miles, whereas

8 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

the volume of the land above sea-level is only 23,000,-
000 cubic miles. If the earth were leveled off, the
ocean would completely cover it to a depth of about
1450 fathoms.

Fossil remains of many marine animals which
lived millions of years ago are found in the sedi-
mentary rocks underlying great areas of the con-
tinents. This indicates that much of the earth's
surface that is now dry land has been under the
ocean at some time during the ages. A part of the
surface that is now submerged was once dry land,
but it is doubtful if any of the true ocean basins
have ever been above the surface of the sea.

Temperature and Salinity

We never think of the temperature of the ocean
except when we are at the sea-shore trying to decide
whether or not to bathe in the surf. Yet the most
important factor in our daily life, the weather, is
largely controlled by the temperature of the surface
water of the ocean. England is as far north as
southern Labrador, but it does not suffer similar
rigors of climate. New York has colder winters than
London.

Such conditions result from ocean currents. The
British Isles benefit from the Gulf Stream, which
flows through the Straits of Florida as a river 50
miles wide and 350 fathoms deep, at the rate of five
miles an hour, in a northerly course past Cape Hat-
teras toward the Banks of Newfoundland, where it
turns more to the east, gradually widening and
losing speed and heat as it goes. Off Cape Hatteras

THE SEA 9

it is 75 miles wide and flows at about three miles
an hour, while to the south of the Grand Banks of
Newfoundland its rate is only one and a half miles
per hour. Although it changes in depth and width
and speed, it preserves its individuality for more
than 3000 miles. New York, on the other hand,
is cooled by the Labrador Cold Current, which flows
southward inside the Gulf Stream along the New
England coast to the Carolinas, and dips under the
Gulf Stream as it emerges from the Straits of
Florida.

Meteorologists sometimes speculate as to what
would take place in the climate of the eastern part
of the United States, if the Labrador Cold Current
were diverted from its course. Doubtless the Gulf
Stream would then swing in closer along our coast,
and make the winters in the Eastern States almost
as warm as those of Florida.

Throughout the oceans, the water at or near the
surface is generally warmer than that below. In the
tropics, the temperature of the surface water may be
80° F. or over, and at the bottom as low as 28° F.
Usually the temperature decreases from the surface
to the bottom. Murray reported the following mean
temperatures for the whole ocean as found on the
ChaRenger expedition :

100 fathoms 60.7° F. 1000 fathoms 36.5° F.

200 " 50.1° F. 1500 " 35.3° F.

500 " 40.1° F. 2200 " 35.2° F.

The bottom temperatures are below 30° F. in the
polar seas. In the Antarctic and Indian oceans and
parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the bottom

10 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

temperature is between 30° and 35° F. In the North
Atlantic and parts of the Pacific the bottom tem-
perature is between 35° and 45° F. Thus it is seen
that all deep-sea water is very cold. While the
temperature of the sea bottom, at depths of 2000
fathoms or more, does not vary more than 12° F.
(between 28° and 40° F.), there is no such uni-
formity of temperature of the surface waters. The
highest surface temperature, 96° F., was recorded
in the Persian Gulf, and the lowest on record is
26° F. in the polar regions. The seasonal variation
in the surface temperature of the sea is least in
Arctic and Antarctic waters and in the tropics where
it is less than 10° F. In the northern temperate zone
the variation is from 10° to 50° F., and in the
southern temperate zone it is from 10° to 30° F.

In ancient times the source of the salts of the sea
was a great mystery. Modern geology has, however,
explained their origin. Time was when the ocean
was composed of fresh water, but all through the
ages the rivers have been carrying into it the dis-
solved salts which the rain has leached from the
earth. Although the rivers contain but a small per-
centage of saline matter, and although much of this
is deposited in the ocean near their mouths in the
form of lime and magnesium salts (limestone, etc.),
the total amount of salts in solution in the ocean
is very great.

Since we can estimate with some exactness the
total amount of sodium in the sea, if we assume that
it has been added in a constant manner without

THE SEA 11

serious losses, we can also estimate the age of the
ocean if we know the amount of sodium added
annually by the rivers. Dr. F. W. Clarke has care-
fully considered, all the information at hand, and has
concluded that the age of the ocean, since the earth
assumed its present form, is somewhat less than a
hundred million years.

Sea salt is not almost pure sodium chloride, such
as the salt we use as a condiment, but is a mixture
of a large number of compounds of which common
salt, Glauber's salt, Epsom salt, gypsum, and potas-
sium chloride and sulphate are the principal
components. Approximately three fourths of the
saline matter is sodium chloride or common salt, and
it is in the preparation of this important substance
that sea-water finds its principal use. In nearly all
warm dry countries salt has been prepared from
sea- water since prehistoric times. Even in this coun-
try, in the State of California, salt is prepared on
a large scale from sea-water.

In addition to the compounds named above, sea-
water contains appreciable amounts of bromine,
iodine, iron, silicon, carbonates, and phosphates.
The presence of the following elements has also been
demonstrated: fluorine, nitrogen, arsenic, boron,
lithium, rubidium, caesium, strontium, manganese,
barium, aluminium, copper, zinc, silver, lead, cobalt,
nickel, gold, and radium.

The total amount of any of these elements occur-
ring in the entire ocean is stupendous even though
it may be present in an extremely small proportion.
Iodine exists in sea-water to the extent of only about

12 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

two parts per million. Yet the entire ocean contains
some sixty billion tons of iodine. Science has not
developed a profitable method of extracting this
iodine from sea- water, but nature has. Many sea-
weeds extract iodine from the sea-water in their life
processes. By burning the seaweed and extracting
the ash, we obtain iodine commercially.

Gold, silver, and radium are contained in sea-
water. The amounts of these extremely valuable ele-
ments are very small, and are ordinarily listed as
traces; nevertheless their presence has attracted
much attention. From time to time, various schemes
have been devised for obtaining the gold and silver
from sea-water. Many of these processes are suc-
cessful in obtaining the precious elements, but no one
has ever been able to do the trick profitably. The
amounts of gold found vary from a tenth of a grain
to a grain per ton of sea-water. The man who first
succeeds in profitably obtaining gold from this source
will revolutionize gold mining.

The composition of sea salt has been the subject
of many elaborate investigations which have shown
that, although ocean water varies considerably in
concentration, the composition of its saline matter
is remarkably uniform.

Dittmar, of the Challenger expedition, made a
large number of analyses of sea-water from many
parts of the globe, and found that the density, and
therefore the salinity, of ocean water diminishes
from the surface to a depth of 800 to 1000 fathoms,
and then increases to the bottom. Around the poles
there are areas of concentration because of the

THE SEA 13

freezing of the surface, which removes nearly pure
water and leaves a large part of the salts behind.

The uniformity of composition of ocean water is
of much greater importance than most people
suspect. Dr. Edwin B. Powers, of the Puget Sound
Biological Station, finds that fish are very sensitive
to changes in the carbon dioxide content of the water,
and suggests that the desertion of the shores by
herring after storms may be due to the mixing of the
carbon dioxide of the air with the sea-water by the
breakers, thus causing the herring to seek deeper
water of lower carbon dioxide content. Doubtless
slight changes in the composition of the ocean water
in one part of the sea accounts for some of the sudden
unexplained migrations of fish.

The average salt content of a gallon of sea-water
is about a quarter of a pound. And, since the average
density of rock-salt is 2.24 times that of water, the
entire ocean, which has a volume of about 300,-
000,000 cubic miles, if dried up would yield
approximately four and a half million cubic miles of
salt. In the face of these figures, the extensive beds
of rock-salt at Stassfurt, Germany, and in Ohio,
Michigan, New York, and Kansas, seem trivial.

In addition to the large number of salts, sea-water
contains considerable amounts of dissolved gases,
principally oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide,
and some small amounts of the inert rare gases,
argon, neon, krypton, and xenon. These gases are
derived chiefly from the atmosphere, but are not in
solution in the water in the same proportion in which
they occur in the atmosphere, as a larger proportion

14 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

of oxygen than nitrogen is dissolved. Moreover cold
sea-water dissolves much more gas than warm water,
and on this account the waters of the polar regions
contain much more dissolved air than do the waters
of the tropical seas.

The presence of the gases dissolved in sea-water
is of utmost importance to the animal and vegetable
life of the ocean. All marine animals breathe,
although few have lungs. The true fishes absorb
oxygen from the water through their gills and thus
are able to maintain their bodily functions.

Color and Pressure in the Ocean Depths

A curious popular misconception is that ships
which sink in the deeper parts of the ocean do not
reach bottom but float submerged at a great depth,
where the density of the water is very high because
of the enormous pressure. Nothing can be farther
from the truth, for any object that will sink in
shallow water will certainly sink to the bottom of
the ocean, even though it may be six miles deep.

The reason for this is not hard to find: water is
almost incompressible. Under one additional atmos-
phere it is compressed only about one twenty-thou-
sandth of its bulk. At the greatest known depth of
the ocean, about 5348 fathoms, the water becomes
only four and a third per cent heavier than at the
surface. The floor of the ocean at great depths is
often covered with delicate shells which are only
slightly heavier than water, and yet they have sunk
from the surface to the bottom.

THE SEA 15

The pressure in water increases rapidly as the
distance beneath the surface increases. At the sur-
face the atmosphere exerts a pressure of fifteen
pounds per square inch. Beneath the surface the
pressure increases fifteen pounds per square inch
for each ten meters (32.8 feet). Thus at 1000 meters
(3280 feet) the pressure is that of a hundred at-
mospheres or 1500 pounds per square inch, and at
the greatest depths the pressure is about six and a
half tons on each square inch.

Solid objects or objects that are freely permeable
to water throughout, as animal bodies, remain prac-
tically unchanged when they sink to great depths.
But objects having internal cavities containing air
are strongly compressed and distorted when sub-
jected to the enormous pressure at the bottom of the
ocean. Wood used in deep-sea trawls is so much
compressed that the denser knots stand out from
the surface. Closed glass tubes dropped to great
depths are crushed to powder. Scientific investi-
gators on the famous Challenger expedition sent a
rabbit down on a line to a depth of 500 fathoms.
The body came up very little altered in appearance ;
the bones were all intact, and the lungs were the
only viscera that seemed to be affected by the pres-
sure. Deep-sea fishermen are aware that the eyes
of fish, brought rapidly to the surface, "pop out,"
and the fish are killed by the disorganization of their
tissues caused by the sudden release from pressure.
If deep-sea fishes accidentally get above their accus-
tomed depth, the expansion of air in their swim-
bladders renders them so buoyant that they continue

16 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

to tumble upward to the surface, and are killed by
the distension of their bodies and the disruption of
their tissues from diminished pressure. One might
say that they die a violent death from falling
upward !

A landlubber's first impression of the ocean is one
of striking beauty, and those who were reared near
the sea love it and are seldom content far from it.
Few scenes surpass the beauty of a sunset at sea.
Although the great body of the open ocean has a
definite, clear blue color, its apparent color is always
changing ; and, because it is so changeable, we never
grow tired of it. Its diversity in appearance is
caused partly by the reflection of the constantly
changing sky and partly by varying light conditions.

Some parts of the ocean are variously tinted
because of impurities in the water or minute organ-
isms present in great quantity. The Red Sea is so
named because of the reddish color given it by
certain plankton. Different intensities of green and
yellow tints occur near land. The olive-green tint
of the Antarctic Ocean is caused by enormous quan-
tities of diatoms suspended in the water. Streaks of
unusual colors are also noted occasionally in the
open ocean; many travelers have observed stretches
of water of a brilliant red tint. Oceanographers who
have towed their plankton nets through such waters
have found large numbers of minute red organisms,
usually dinoflagellates.

Light from the sun penetrates the ocean to vary-
ing depths, depending upon the clarity of the water

THE SEA 17

and the angle at which the rays enter. Off Capri in
the Mediterranean, photographic plates were not
affected by exposure at depths greater than 164)
fathoms (300 meters), but in the Atlantic, light rays
have affected a plate exposed for eighty minutes at
a depth of 547 fathoms (1000 meters}^.

The red and yellow rays are absorbed by water
more readily than the blue and violet; consequently
the latter penetrate to a greater distance. This has
an important effect upon the animal and vegetable
life of the sea. Green algae require yellow light rays
for their photosynthetic processes and are on this
account found near the surface only. On the other
hand red algag can utilize blue light and therefore
live in deeper waters. It is probable that the rays
used by plants in photosjmthetic processes do not
reach deeper than 600 feet, even in the clear water
of the tropics. In the polar regions, where the light
from the sun strikes the water at an oblique angle,
these rays do not penetra+e nearly so far.

The colors of marine animals are well adapted to
these conditions. Dr. Hjort, a famous oceanographer,
made a study of the colors of fishes of the Atlantic
living at various depths, and found that most of
the surface fishes, down to 75 fathoms, are colorless ;
from 150 to 250 fathoms the fishes are silvery or
gray; and at depths where little light penetrates
they are black or dark colored. At these great depths
the Crustacea are red in color, but they appear black
because no red light rays penetrate the upper layers.
Many of the animals, other than fish, living near the
surface are blue or bluish violet and so tone in with

18 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

the sea; others, such as the jellyfishes, are quite
transparent.

Movements of Ocean Waters

Those who visit the sea-shore for the first time
are greatly impressed with the height and regularity
of the tides. The tidal wave rises and falls every
twelve hours, twenty-five and a half minutes. In the
Antarctic Ocean it moves from east to west in a
free and uninterrupted course around the earth. In
the other oceans the tidal wave is more or less modi-
fied because of the continents, which interrupt its
passage around the earth. When the tidal wave
strikes the shore it is reflected and moves back into
the ocean, meeting and modifying the incoming tidal
wave. Irregular coasts have tides very different from
those of regular coasts. Some places, such as the
eastern coasts of Scotland and England, receive their
tides by two separate waves that reach them by
different routes from the north and south; at some
places along these coasts a tide of double height
occurs; other places are almost without tides; while
at still other points four separate and distinct
periods of high water occur in every twenty-four
hours and fifty-one minutes.

The tides are caused by the attraction of the sun
and moon. Since the moon is so much closer than the
sun, the tides produced by it are about two and a
quarter times greater than those produced by the
sun. When the sun and moon act simultaneously, the
tidal wave is higher than usual. Such tides are called
spring tides. They occur twice during each revolu-

THE SEA 19

tion of the moon, once at full and once at new moon.
The highest spring tides occur a short time before
the March and September equinoxes.

The tides are lowest in mid-ocean, where they
range from two to three feet. On the coasts of con-
tinents they rise to much greater heights, and
when forced up narrow, shelving bays, deep gulfs,
or broad river mouths, they attain considerable
heights. In the Bay of Fundy the spring tides, aided
by favoring winds, sometimes reach seventy feet in
height.

Although the water of waves appears to move for-
ward, it really moves up and down vertically. There
is a slight surface drift, however, as is shown by
the finding of golf balls from Scotland off the coast
of the Lofoten Islands in the north of Norway. On
approaching the shore the wave breaks, and its
crest topples forward, and gives rise to a distinct
horizontal movement of the water.

In the open sea, with a moderate wind, the height
of the average wave is only about six feet. Reason-
ably authentic cases of waves measuring fifty feet
above the level of the trough have been reported, but
such waves occur only during exceedingly violent
storms.

True ocean currents are bodies of water of definite
constitution, often differing markedly from the sur-
rounding water, through which they flow like a
river. The Gulf Stream, which has already been
discussed, is a typical ocean current. Other important
Atlantic Ocean currents are the North Equatorial

20 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Current and the South Equatorial Current, which
cross the ocean from east to west, the Labrador Cold
Current, and the Antarctic Current.

The Pacific Ocean has three equatorial currents:
a powerful Northern Equatorial Current and a pow-
erful Southern Equatorial Current, which flow from
east to west; between these two flows a smaller, less
powerful counter-current from west to east. On
reaching the Philippine Islands, the North Equa-
torial Current flows northeast along the Asiatic
Coast as the Japan Current, the Pacific counterpart
of the Gulf Stream. At about Lat. 50° this current
flows eastward as the North Pacific Current until it
reaches the shores of North America, where it divides,
a part flowing southward along the coast of Cali-
fornia as the California Current, and a part flowing
northwest, warming the Alaskan Coast.

Thus it is seen that the North Atlantic, South
Atlantic, and North Pacific oceans have important
equatorial currents flowing from east to west to the
eastern shores of the continents, and then flowing
along the shore until the fortieth parallel is reached,
then turning eastward and flowing in an enormous
ellipse. These currents exert important influences on
the earth's climate, cooling the tropical shores and
warming the temperate shores. In this way the sea
acts as a great distributor of the heat of the sun,
conveying about half of that which is received in the
tropics to higher latitudes.

Definite currents are phenomena occurring only in
the surface waters of the ocean. Nevertheless there
is a general tendency for the colder, denser water of

THE SEA 21

the polar regions to sink and move slowly toward
the tropics, replacing the warmer surface water of
the tropics, which flows toward the poles.

In the future, greater knowledge concerning the
ocean currents ought to enable the "weather man"
to predict average seasonal temperatures months in
advance. We might also be able to predict the dis-
tribution of icebergs in the North Atlantic and
perhaps the prospects of the marine fisheries.

Life in the Sea

When we collect all of the evidence of the evolu-
tionary development of plants and animals found by
biologists and place it side by side with the facts
revealed to us by geology and oceanography, the
irresistible conclusion is reached that the sea was the
cradle of life upon the earth and that all plants and
animals were originally derived from ancestors that
lived in the sea. Curiously enough, the salts found in
sea-water are found in human blood-plasma in almost
exactly the same proportions. This physiological
fact seems to. confirm the biological evidence tending
to prove that man has evolved from simpler marine
animal organisms.

It is also interesting to note that the depths of
the sea have revealed a few survivors of earlier
geological periods whose histories are written in
stone. Crinoids, or sea-lilies, have existed since early
geologic times and are still found in the sea; one
important bed of these curious animals has been
discovered off the coa^t of Cuba. Yes, sea-lilies are

22 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

not plants but animals related to the starfishes. As
their name indicates, however, they are plant-like in
appearance, having a long- jointed calcareous stem,
supported in the ooze by root-like branches. The top
is capped with what has the appearance of an in-
verted starfish. The fossil forms of sea-lilies are very
abundant, showing that they once existed in enor-
mous numbers. Evidently they are dying out, for
of the two hundred genera, which are known to have
formerly inhabited the ocean, only twelve still remain.

One of the most important facts established by
modern oceanographer^ is that there is no region of
the sea that is entirely devoid of life. Wherever the
trawl or dredge is used, some representatives of the
various classes of marine animals are found. The
shallow waters of the coasts, and the greatest depths
of the ocean, the dense warm waters of the Mediter-
ranean and Red seas, the cold and comparatively
fresh waters of the Norwegian fiords, the surface
waters of the equatorial seas, and the cold waters
in the depths of the Arctic, all contain characteristic
forms of living creatures.

The ocean, however, resembles the land in exhib-
iting so many varying conditions that the animals
which characterize one region dre absent from
another. In some places animal and plant life is
abundant, while in others it is very scarce. When we
ascend great mountains the vegetation and animals
change with increasing altitudes. Broad belts of
approximately equal temperature have the same
species of plants and animals. As might be expected,
it is much the same with various depths of the ocean.

THE SEA 23

The lighted zone along the shore has a fauna unlike
that at a hundred fathoms, while at a thousand
fathoms another world is seen, and so on with
increasing depth.

The variety of marine plants and animals is so
great that it is only possible to consider the subject
briefly here. The largest and smallest animals and
the tallest and smallest plants live in the sea, and
an amazing number and variety of both plants and
animals are found there. Even the surface water
collected in mid-ocean, which is seemingly devoid of
life, is teeming with minute living organisms.

Life is most abundant in the relatively shallow
water close to shore, and it is from these waters
that most of the products of economic importance
come. The fish, lobsters, shrimp, crabs, oysters, clams,
mussels, abalones, sponges, turtles, terrapins, squid,
and algae utilized by man are all taken in fairly
shallow water close to shore or on the banks — areas
of shallow water farther from shore, which are exten-
sions of the continental shelves. The largest animals
found in the sea are whales, which are not fish but
mammals especially adapted for life in the ocean.
Many other mammals are found in the ocean, the
most important of which are the seals, walruses, sea-
lions, porpoises, and dolphins. Whaling and sealing
are important marine industries. Approximately
nineteen thousand different species of fish exist,
many of which are found in enormous numbers. The
various species of fish differ greatly in size, form,
color, and habits.

Nearly all marine plants require light for their

24 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

growth. On this account practically all marine vege-
tation is near the surface, and the dark abysmal
depths of the sea are devoid of plant life, except
perhaps bacteria and other low fungoid forms.
Marine plants with very few exceptions are very
simple organisms. Seaweeds, or marine algae, al-
though resembling many land plants in appearance,
have nothing in common with the higher terrestrial
types, for they are composed of but one class of cells.
Algae have no roots in the true sense of the word,
for the holdfasts merely act as anchors, and do not
absorb nourishment from the sea bottom. The food
required by the algae is obtained by the individual
cells composing the plant from the substances held in
solution by the surrounding water.

Although vegetable life is so exceedingly scarce
in the profound depths of the ocean, animal life, not
requiring light for its existence, is plentiful. Yet
it is not surprising that less than a century ago
scientists believed that life at great depths was
impossible, for in the deeper parts of the sea the
pressure is tremendous, and it is totally dark and
very cold. At a depth of a mile, the pressure amounts
to a ton to the square inch, yet with a perfectly
uncanny adaptability many species of delicately con-
structed animals thrive. Fish, tunicates, crustaceans,
mollusks, echinoderms, worms, coelenterates, and pro-
tozoa are found at great depths, but nearly all of
these are so modified, either in form or color, or in
the structure of their organs of sense, or in other
ways, that they can be recognized at once as deep-
sea animals. The enormous pressure of the great

THE SEA 25

depths does not crush them, for their bodies are in
many cases thoroughly permeable to water. Many
deep-sea animals are totally blind, while many others
are phosphorescent.

Deep-sea animals are much more delicately con-
structed than their shallow-water relatives. The
crabs have very spindling legs and frail bodies. The
fishes have very soft and velvety skin, with either a
very few scales or none at all. The shells of the
moUusks are very thin and brittle.

One phase of aquatic life, seldom considered by
most persons, is of great economic importance. Vast
numbers of minute organisms float or drift in the
sea with little or no power of independent locomotion,
and are known collectively as plankton. The organ-
isms composing plankton are chiefly minute algae
(diatoms, desmids, and filamentous algae), protozoa
(flagellates and rhizopods), rotifers, and minute
Crustacea (cladocera and copepoda). These minute
organisms constitute the chief food of many species
of fish, and indirectly constitute the bulk of the food
of all fish, for those which do not feed on plankton
live on fish or other organisms which subsist on
these small plants and animals. Plankton is most
plentiful near the mouths of large rivers, as it
depends for its food to a large extent upon the
combined nitrogen brought in by the rivers.

The ocean is so vast, its conditions are so varied,
and its forms of life so multitudinous in number that
it is impossible to give more than a brief survey of
the interesting facts about it in this chapter.

CHAPTER II

Fishery Products in Everyday Life
Early Importance of Marine Products

ONLY a few of the myriads of plants and ani-
mals found in the ocean are utilized by man.
Some products of the sea, however, such as
fish, oysters, and many other shell-fish, have been
made use of by man since the earliest times. The first
articles bartered by savage men included amber,
coral, salt, fish, and shell-fish. Wampum, or strings
of shell beads, were used as money by many tribes
of North American Indians.

The ancients even extracted their most important
dye from a shell-fish. This dye, now known as Tyrian
purple, was obtained by an extremely laborious
process and consequently was very expensive. It
was so costly that it could be afforded only by the
very wealthy; and so originated the phrase, "born
to the purple."

We have no records to show when man first sailed
the ocean, but doubtless fishing was his object.
Fishing fleets have often grown into great merchant
marines. Such was the origin of the fleets of the
Phenicians and the early Greeks. When Attila the
Hun swooped down on Italy and sacked the cities
on the northern shore of the Adriatic, the people

26

FISHERY PRODUCTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE 27

took refuge on the barren islands of the lagoons.
Here they had little food except fish ^ and no min-
erals but salt and sand. The Venetians learned to
catch fish in the sea and to preserve them with salt
prepared from sea-water. Their fishing-smacks grew
into fleets and navies, and soon Venetian vessels
dominated the sea.

The Hanseatic League, the powerful confedera-
tion of commercial cities about the Baltic, owed its
rise largely to the herring which its fishermen caught
in the Baltic. But early in the fifteenth century the
herring migrated to the North Sea, from which
they did not return. This brought the fall of the
Hanseatic League, and the rise of the Dutch and
British sea-power.

Fisliing rights have always been a source of inter-
national rivalry and disputes, and have caused many
wars. Great Britain's navy was started by Charles I
to keep the Dutch from fishing in what were claimed
as British waters. This led to a long war between
the English and Dutch, and to a conflict of interna-
tional law which was finally settled by allowing the
freedom of the seas beyond the three-mile limit. Thus
it is possible to trace the present-day discussion of
the three-mile or the twelve-mile limit to the early
fishery disputes.

In ancient and medieval times, the fisheries were
relatively more important than they are to-day.
Although the quantity of fish taken w^as much
smaller, the human race was more dependent upon

^ E. E. Slosson in "Industrial and Engineering Chemistry," Vol.
XVI (1924), pp. 447-450.

28 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

products of the sea, since manufacturing and agri-
culture were then only in the early stages of
development. Whale-oil, sperm-oil, and spermaceti
were essential for illuminants. Indeed as late as the
early nineteenth century pessimists were forecasting
dark streets and homes on account of the gradual
diminution of the numbers of whales because of over-
fishing, just as many are now forecasting the decline
of the automobile industry in the near future by
reason of the exhaustion of our petroleum supplies.
The influence of fish and other products of the
sea upon the history of North America dates from
a time before the white man set foot upon the con-
tinent. Enormous shell heaps or kitchen-middens are
found at various places along the Atlantic coast.
They occur on the sites of the ancient villages of
the shore dv/ellers and indicate that these Indians
depended to a considerable extent on shell-fish for
their sustenance. The Indians taught the early set-
tlers to fertilize their crops with the alewives and
other fishes which could be caught in enormous
quantities in the bays and coastal streams in the
spring. The Pilgrim Fathers had difficulty in obtain-
ing sufficiently large crops on the rocky soil of New
England and might have starved if it had not been
for the bountiful supply of sea-food close at hand.
Fish, lobsters, crabs, mussels, scallops, and clams
were very plentiful all along the coast. Oysters were
easy to get almost anywhere from Rhode Island
southward. The proximity of the banks, where cod
and other ground-fish were so plentiful, encouraged
the building of sailing-vessels. Yankee ingenuity in-

FISHERY PRODUCTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE 29

vented the schooner, and soon America became an
important maritime nation. The people of Mas-
sachusetts have recognized their debt to the cod and
have hung a model of it in the hall of the House of
Representatives.

Such is the importance of marine products In
history. Even to-day sea products are of far greater
importance than most people realize. We little guess
to what extent the sea and its products enter into
our daily life.

Fishery Products in Our Daily Life

Consider fish-oil and its many uses. Twenty-five or
more important industries use it in the manufacture
of products as varied as patent leather and candles.
Many of our paints, varnishes, stains, enamels,
baking japans, and driers contain it. Either fish-oil
or fish-liver oil is used in the finishing of all leathers.

When we rise in the morning we may use a soap
made from fish or whale oil for our bath. The razor
we shave with was tempered in fish-oil. The cold
cream or other toilet preparation used after we
shave contains glycerin which may have been
obtained from menhaden or some other fish. We put
on shoes which were finished with menhaden oil.

We go to our door, painted perhaps with a salmon-
oil paint, and get a newspaper printed with ink made
from fish-oil and lampblack. If we eat herring or
mackerel for our breakfast, we obtain much nutri-
ment from the fat and vitamines of the herring or
mackerel oil.

30 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

We may ride to work in an automobile painted
with a baking japan containing fish-oil, and sit on
imitation leather seats prepared by the use of men-
haden or other fish oil. Even if the car has real
leather upholstery, fish and fish-liver oil were used
in the final tanning and finishing processes.

We enter our office building painted perhaps with
menhaden oil paint containing driers made from fish-
oils. The linoleum on the floor may have been made
with fish-oil. The greases used in the lubrication of
the elevator machinery probably contain fish-oil.

If it is raining when we come from work in the
evening, we put on a rain-coat which may have been
made from cloth covered with many coats of a fish-
oil varnish.

Our feet may get wet on the way home. To prevent
catching cold we take a tonic. One of the best we may
choose is cod-liver oil, which contains the fat-soluble
vitamines needed to build up vitality and resistance
to disease.

Perhaps we shall have candles on our dinner-
table; if so, it is likely that they were made from
stearin obtained from fish or whale oil. Our furni-
ture may be finished with a menhaden oil varnish.
And the oilcloth which covers the kitchen table was
probably made by painting cloth with special men-
haden oil paints.

When we prepare for bed we put on slippers made
soft and comfortable by treatment with fish and fish-
liver oils, and as we switch off the electric light we
may touch an imitation rubber knob of fish-oil
composition.

FISHERY PRODUCTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE 31

Fish-glue, the true liquid glue, has uses nearly as
extensive. It is also used in the manufacture of shoes
and slippers and in the preparation of paints. It is
not, however, a component of oil paints, but is used
in the preparation of cold water paints or calcimines.
Other important uses are the preparation of flexible
glues for book-binding, the manufacture of court-
plaster, the chipping of glass, box making, sizing,
and general repair work. It is the only ready-to-use
glue that is suitable for the many purposes for
which a quick-drying strong adhesive is needed. An-
other important use of fish-glue that is unknown to
most persons is in the preparation of enamels on half-
tone and zinc-line plates for use in photo-engraving.
Some potassium dichromate is dissolved in a fish-
skin glue solution. This solution is spread uniformly
on an absolutely clean copper plate, which is then
dried in a dark room over a low flame. Such a plate
is sensitive to the light, since the glue becomes insol-
uble in water upon exposure to light; it is exposed
behind a specially prepared plate in much the same
way as an ordinary silver chloride plate such as is
used for the making of lantern-slides. Another curi-
ous use of this glue is in the manufacture of belt
cement for joining leather belts, for which use an
especially strong flexible adhesive is required.

Common salt is the most important inorganic
product obtained by the evaporation of sea-water,
some being prepared in every warm, dry country
bordering the sea. The American sea-salt industry
is centered near San Francisco and San Diego, Cali-

S2 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

fornia. We may be proud of the California sea-salt,
for American ingenuity and modern scientific
methods have revolutionized this the most ancient
of industries, and now we produce salt of exception-
ally fine quality. The California salt makers have
made some use of the mother liquor from the salt
crystals, and they now prepare several by-products
of considerable value from this liquor which was
formerly wasted. The most important of these is mag-
nesium oxychloride cement, which is finding wide use
in our industries. Potassium chloride, magnesia,
Epsom salts, and bromine are other by-products
which have been produced.

Vegetable life exists in the sea in such great abun-
dance that various observers have estimated the
marine vegetation to be equal in quantity to the
plant growth of the land. The multitudinous species
of marine plants are utilized scarcely at all. The
very name, seaweed, by which they are ordinarily
called, indicates that these plants, like the weeds of
the fields, are commonly considered to be of little
if any value. In Europe and Japan, however, iodine
is prepared from certain seaweeds. The weeds are
burned, and the ash obtained by this procedure is
leached with water. Potassium salts are crystallized
from the resultant solution, and the residue is used
for the preparation of iodine and potassium iodide.
Iodine, agar-agar, and Irish moss are the only sea-
weed products sold in America on an important scale.
Irish moss, which is prepared in Massachusetts, is
used for the preparation of blanc-mange. Recently

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MENHADEN OIL SETTLING TANKS
Where the oil from the cooked fish is separated from the water

FISH SKINS FOR (iLUE MANUFACTURE

Use found for cod and cusk skins removed in process of salting

fish

A BRAZILIAN SEA SALINE

Huge piles of harvested salt ready to be loaded into barges

HUGE CRYSTALS OF SEA
SALT

When sea-water is slowly
evaporated by solar heat,
a solid mass of laxg^
crystals results.

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© International Newsreel

HARVESTING SALT IN CALIFORNIA

The old-fashioned method of harvesting salt with j)ick and shovel

at San Mateo

FISHERY PRODUCTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE 3S

a factory for the preparation of agar-agar has been
estabhshed in Cahfornia. Agar is used in medicine
and is also the base of very important bacteriological
media.

The Orientals, especially the Chinese and Japa-
nese, have always utilized large quantities of marine
algae. They use algae for food, medicine, glue, and
size, for decorative purposes, for the preparation of
a varnish and of an alcoholic beverage, as a clarify-
ing agent for wines and liquors, for the manufacture
of iodine, bromine, and potassium salts, and for
many other purposes.

Chinese cooks are expert in the preparation of
seaweed dishes and dainties. Most of their soup stocks
are made from it. Many rice, fish, and vegetable
dishes and sauces are mixed with seaweed prepara-
tions. The seaweeds give to the food a pleasing
aromatic flavor resembling the taste of dried fish.
Seaweed isinglass, or agar, is used not only for
bread and cakes but also for candies.

The Japanese prepare certain kinds of food called
kombu from various laminaria. This dried seaweed
product is cooked with meats and soups, and is also
served as a vegetable. Moreover powdered kombu is
extensively used in the preparation of a drink
resembling tea.

The Japanese are also important producers of the
most valuable marine product, the pearl. Recently
they have discovered means of causing the pearl-
oyster to grow pearls. It may be that the growing
of cultural pearls will become so successful that these

S4 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

beautiful jewels will cease to be the most costly
of gems.

The pearl-shell or mother-of-pearl fishery is
always carried on simultaneously with the pearl
fishery. It is of considerable importance in many
countries, and the world's production is valued at
approximately one hundred million dollars. There
are extensive pearl and pearl-shell fisheries in Aus-
tralia, Ceylon, Japan, California, Mexico, Venezuela,
and the Persian Gulf. The pearl shell obtained in
California is the abalone, which is manufactured into
a large variety of ornamental and useful objects.

Not only is the sea the source of true pearls and
of mother-of-pearl, but it also furnishes the material
from which imitation pearls are made. Fish-scales
are covered with a nacreous substance which gives
fish much of their beauty. Clever chemists have
learned how to transfer this lustrous substance from
the scales to beads. The chief difficulty lies in obtain-
ing a permanent, uniform, waterproof coating on
the bead. Recently economical methods of preparing
pearl essence have been perfected so that it is now
cheap enough to be used for general decorative
purposes, such as the ornamentation of pyralin.

Beautiful ornaments are also made from the pre-
cious coral, which is the skeleton of a curious little
animal that grows in branching colonies, and, because
of this characteristic, was formerly thought to be a
plant. Rose-pink coral usually commands the highest
price. It is extensively used in the making of beads,
cameos, and many other ornamental objects. The
carving and engraving of coral requires great skill.

FISHERY PRODUCTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE 35

The Italians possess the greatest skill in this trade,
which is centered in Naples, Genoa, Torre del Greco,
Leghorn, and Trapani.

Fish and Fishery Products

Although the number and importance of the vege-
table and mineral products of the sea is considerable,
their economic value is overshadowed by the products
of the commercial fisheries. Fish are marvelously
abundant ; approximately nineteen thousand distinct
species have been catalogued. Some of these fish are
exceedingly numerous, as, for example, the herring,
menhaden, and pilchards. Approximately a billion
menhaden are caught by American fishermen annu-
ally. The herring fisheries of the North Sea have
furnished enormous quantities of fish for over five
hundred years and still over a billion pounds of
these fish are caught each year. Relatively few of the
large number of species of marine fishes are utilized
to any considerable extent. Only about a hundred
species are caught in appreciable quantities by
American fishermen.

The most important use of fish is as food for man.
Fish is a food, high in protein, which may be pre-
pared for the table in a great variety of ways and
gives a welcome relief from a steady meat diet. FisE
are preserved by freezing, canning, salting, pickling,
smoking, drying, and even fermenting.

Canning is the most important method of pre-
serving fish in America. In 1926, 7,488,620 cases
of salmon, valued at about $50,000,000, were canned.

36 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

The sardine pack is very valuable, and about three
million cases valued at more than twelve million
dollars are canned annually. In Europe, where the
people are accustomed to eating salted fish, salting
is still the most important means of preserving fish.
More than 500,000 barrels of herring are salted
annually in Scotland alone. In Europe many smoked
fish are also consumed; approximately 200,000 bar-
rels of herring alone are preserved by smoking in
Scotland. During periods when the supply exceeds
the demand, many fish are frozen in America and
held until a time when the supply diminishes. In
1925, 91,165,068 pounds of fish were frozen.

The by-products of the fishery industries include
several interesting products that have multitudinous
uses. The importance of fish-oil and fish-glue in our
daily Hfe has already been discussed. Fish waste has
been used as fertilizer since prehistoric times. In
recent years the oil has been extracted from this
waste, which is then dried and sold as meal for
animal feed. This change is gradually revolutioniz-
ing the whole by-products industry, for meal is worth
much more than fertilizer. By feeding meal to his
stock, the farmer is able to utilize all of the valuable
components of the scrap, for by fertilizing his land
with manure from his stock, he uses again much of
the nitrogen of the meal which has already served
in the nutrition of the stock.

Shark leather has recently become very popular.
Cod, salmon, and other fish skins may be tanned into
excellent leather. The air-bladders of the sturgeon,
hake, and other fishes are made into isinglass.

FISHERY PRODUCTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE 37

Only a few of the thousands of species of marine
mollusks are utihzed commercially as food, but those
wliich are taken are of great importance. Each year
more than seventeen million bushels of oysters valued
at over twelve million dollars are produced in the
United States alone. Oysters are sold in the shell,
shucked, canned, and dried. Shucked oysters are
transported more easily than those in the shell ; con-
sequently more oysters are sold in this way than
in any other. Oyster shells also constitute an impor-
tant commodity, being used extensively as poultry
grit, agricultural lime, building lime, and as a road
material.

Four species of clams are taken commercially in
America: soft, hard or quahog, razor, and skimmer
or surf. Massachusetts produces more clams than
any other State, but Maine is a close second. Some
clams are taken in every State on both the Atlantic
and Pacific coasts. Soft clams are most abundant in
Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Hard
clams are more abundant than the soft species in the
other States on the Atlantic coast. Razor clams are
most abundant in the Pacific Northwest.

Scallops are utilized principally as food, although
a limited amount of the ornamental shells are also
made into useful articles. The American scallop
fishery is located chiefly on the Massachusetts and
New York coasts.

Sea mussels are considered excellent food in many
European countries, but the fishery is especially im-
portant in France, where much attention has been
devoted to mussel culture. France alone produces

38 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

approximately 400,000,000 pounds of mussels. In
the United States, only one State, New Jersey, pro-
duces many mussels. In 1921, 791,000 pounds of
this shell-fish were taken in that State ; most of these
were sold in New York City. A few mussels were
canned.

Small quantities of many other marine mollusks
are utilized commercially in America. Chief among
these are the following: natica, cockle, periwinkle,
piddock, squid, donax, cephalopods, and chiton. The
most important of these is the squid, a most curious
shell-fish belonging to the devil-fish famil3^ In China
and many other countries of the Orient, this moUusk
is a favorite marine delicacy. In America it is used
chiefly as bait by many of the trawl and hand-line
fishermen of New England, eastern Canada, and
Newfoundland, but it is now eaten by our Oriental
population. Some squid is canned in California.

Although our lobster and crab fisheries are
declining, they are still of considerable importance.
Formerly lobsters were exceedingly plentiful all
along the coast of New England, but in recent years
the American lobster has been over-fished, until
to-day our fishery is entirely overshadowed by the
Canadian fishery. Now the Canadian fishery is
threatened by over-fishing. The open season is now
very short, yet Canada still produces many more
lobsters than all the rest of the world.

Crabs are caught all along our coasts and are
now considered a delicacy by most connoisseurs of
sea-food. Until 1873, crabs were seldom eaten. In

FISHERY PRODUCTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE 39

recent years, however, the demand has grown rapidly
until now the blue crab is threatened with over-
fishing. The present annual production of crabs in
the United States is approximately thirty million
pounds.

Three species of shrimp are taken commercially
in American waters. The bulk are obtained from
the South Atlantic and Gulf States, where about
two million dollars' worth of this crustacean are
marketed fresh, and more than four million dollars'
worth are canned.

Few of us realize where and how the green turtles,
which are so highly prized for soup, are obtained.
Most of them come from Key West, having been
caught in Caribbean waters. They are enormous ani-
mals, many of them weighing more than two hundred
pounds, and are extremely clumsy on land, where
they are barely able to drag themselves about. They
are often caught on sandy beaches at night when
they come ashore to lay their eggs. Turtle eggs
are usually highly prized by the inhabitants along
the beaches where they are found.

Tortoise-shell has been so widely imitated by
manufacturers of celluloid that many persons do not
know the genuine article when they see it. It is ob-
tained from the shields of the carapace, or back shell,
as it is commonly called, of the hawk's-bill turtle.
These turtles are found in nearly all parts of the
tropical seas, but the best grades of tortoise-shell are
obtained from the Malay Archipelago.

The diamond-back terrapin is one of the most

40 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

valuable marine delicacies marketed in the United
States. At one time it was abundant in the salt and
brackish marshes along the Atlantic coast in the
Southern States, but now it is very scarce. On this
account attempts are being made to propagate it.

Whale and Other Animal Products

Whaling played a very important part in the early
history of our republic The New Bedford whalers
searched the seven seas for whales, and supplied a
large part of the world with illuminating oil, candles,
and whalebone. With the development of the petro-
leum industry, deep-sea whaling suffered a rapid
decline, for whale-oil was no longer a necessary illu-
minant. The invention of the harpoon-gun by Svend
Foyn in 1864 made it easier to capture whales and
gave the industry new life, and the discovery of
practical means of converting whale-oil into solid
fat brought about the rejuvenation of whaling. At
present about seventy million dollars' worth of whale
products is prepared annually. Whales are hunted
as never before, and so great is the slaughter that
unless some form of protection is immediately devised
the whale will become commercially extinct within a
decade or two. Protection will have to be brought
about by international agreement, for few whales
are found within the three-mile limit, and whalers
of any nation may take those found outside this
limit. Whale meat is a popular food in Japan and
is eaten extensively in Norway. It was introduced
into this country during the war, and at that time

FISHERY PRODUCTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE 41

whale steak could be had in many of the large hotels
in our big cities, but it never attained much popu-
larity. Many whale tails are pickled in brine at the
whaling stations on our Pacific coast and are ex-
ported to Japan, where they are considered a
delicacy. Other important whale products are sper-
maceti, whalebone, sperm-oil, ambergris, glue, whale
meal, and bone meal. Ambergris is often worth
its weight in gold. It is a gray substance found in
the intestines of diseased whales, but it is also often
found floating on the sea or washed upon the shore.
It is used in fine perfumes to prevent the fragrance
from being quickly dissipated after use.

Porpoises, dolphins, blackfish, and other relatively
small animals belonging to the whale family are
hunted in a few localities for their hides and oil. The
oil obtained from the jaws of these animals is the
most valuable liquid fat known in commerce.

Since 1909, Uncle Sam has been in the fur
business, for in that year the Bureau of Fisheries
took control of the Pribilof Islands of Alaska, and
has had complete charge of the fur-seals of the
islands, which furnish nearly the entire world's
supply of seal fur. By careful protection, the
number of seals on the islands has been increased
from 132,000 in 1910 to more than 700,000 at pres-
ent. During the past few years, the government has
had a tidy income from this source. Only the surplus
male seals are killed, so that the number of seals in
the rookeries is likely to continue to increase.

Hair-seals are captured for their hides and blub-
ber. The hides are tanned into beautiful leather, and

42 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

the blubber is rendered into oil. The only important
hair-sealing grounds remaining lie in the North
Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland,
Labrador, and Greenland.

Walruses are hunted for their hides, blubber, and
ivory. These animals have been killed so ruthlessly
that they are nearly extinct. It is now illegal to kill
walruses in Alaska. A few are still captured on the
Labrador coast and in Spitzbergen, Nova Zembla,
and the smaller islands of the Arctic Ocean.

Sponges are obtained chiefly from the Mediter-
ranean Sea, Florida, the Bahama Islands, and Cuba.
The sponges of commerce as they appear on the
market are but the skeletons of the living sponge,
from which the soft fleshy matter of the living animal
has been removed. The most important commercial
sponges are the sheepswool, yellow, velvet, grass,
glove, wire, reef, hardhead, Turkey cup and Turkey
solid, Turkey toilet, zimocca, honeycomb, and ele-
phant-ear sponges. The annual production of
sponges in Florida is valued at nearly a million
dollars.

Such is the great variety of fishery products which
enter into our daily life; their total value is about
a billion dollars a year. The sum may seem small
when it is compared with the value of the products
of many other industries, but if the supply of marine
products were cut off, most of them would be badly
missed.

When the great size of the ocean is considered, the
areas that are now being exploited seem very limited.

FISHERY PRODUCTS IN EVERYDAY LIFE 43

Only the Mediterranean, North Atlantic, North Sea,
and North Pacific Oceans have been extensively
fished. Further, thousands of species of fish and
shell-fish occur in large quantities which are scarcely
utilized at all. Among fishes the outstanding example
of one that is caught in large numbers, yet is seldom
utilized, is the dogfish. It is very voracious and
destroys large numbers of young food fish. Sea
mussels are very plentiful along the coast of the
United States and are very good to eat, yet most of
those that are taken are used as bait.

CHAPTER III

The Ma/nufacture of Salt from Sea-Water

WHEN man first learned to cook his food, the
boiling removed a considerable proportion
of the salt contained in his meat and vege-
tables, and it became necessary for him to make up
the deficiency. This was usually obtained from the
water of the ocean or from the numerous salt springs.
Inland savage tribes often had to travel long dis-
tances to obtain their salt. Those who ran short of
salt obtained this necessary condiment from other
tribes by trading furs and other valuable materials
for it. Thus it is probable that salt was one of the
first commodities bartered by savage man. Because
of its value in ancient times, salt was used as a sacri-
ficial offering by the adherents of various religions.
The Jews offered it to Jehovah in covenants. That
good word "salary" is derived from the ancient Ro-
man practice of giving the soldiers as part of their
pay money to buy sal (salt).

Salt is even more essential to the welfare of civ-
ilized man than it is to the savage. When salt is
mentioned, table, dairy, ice-cream, and packing-
house salts immediately come to mind. Many of its
most important uses are unknown to the average

man. Various grades of salt are used in the makings

44

MANUFACTURE OF SALT FROM SEA-WATER 45

of brick, tile, pottery, textiles, paper, soap, ice, oil,
leather, dyes, chlorine, soda, lye, sodium sulphate,
and practically all the sodium compounds with the
exception of sodium nitrate. It is also the source of
the chlorine of most of the chlorine compounds of
commerce, the most important of which are bleach-
ing powder, sodium h3rpochlorite, sodium chlorate,
sodium perchlorate, hydrochloric acid, and silver
chloride. Indeed its uses are so numerous and varied
that it is difficult to find an industry in which some
salt or product made from salt is not used. Conse-
quently the quantity of salt produced is much greater
than most people realize. In 1925, for example, the
United States alone produced 7,897,4)98 tons. Most
of this was low-priced salt used for industrial pur-
poses, the total value being only $26,162,361, or
less than four dollars a ton.

Salt making is one of the most widely distributed
industries, some salt being prepared in almost every
country of the world. In addition to the United
States, China, Japan, India, Germany, England,
France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Brazil, and many
other countries have important salt industries. In
some places salt is heavily taxed. In Italy, Aus-
tria, Turkey, and China, the salt industry is a
government monopoly.

The important sources of salt are (1) mines, (2)
wells or springs, and (3) sea- water. Rock-salt is
obtained from mines in the salt deposits in the earth's
crust. Wells are usually operated by drilling into
salt deposits, pumping water down into the wells,
and simultaneously pumping up the saturated salt

46 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

solution. Most of the salt produced in the United
States is either mined or taken from wells. Some,
however, is prepared from sea-water by solar evap-
oration; in 1925 Cahfornia produced 2,089,171
barrels of sea-salt, while in Utah 629,679 barrels
were obtained in the same way from the Great Salt
Lake.

All salt deposits are the remains of dried-up seas.
In many cases, arms of the ocean were cut off by
the elevation of certain areas. The inland seas
formed in this way slowly dried up, leaving immense
beds of salt which later became covered with rock.
High pressures changed the salt deposits to rock-
salt.

The Manufacture of Salt in the Orient

It is often said that the amount of soap used by
any people is a measure of its degree of civilization.
It may also be said that the purity of the salt used
is a similar criterion. Savages are not particular
about their salt and often use salty earth in season-
ing their food. The ancient civilizations seldom
prepared clean salt, and pure salt was unknown. The
ancient Hebrews used salt containing much earth.
This accounts for Jesus' parable: "Ye are the salt
of the earth; but if the salt have lost his savour,
wherewith shall it be salted?" If, in some way, the
earthy salt had become wet, the salt was washed out,
leaving the earth ; thus the salt had "lost his savour."
In many Oriental countries very impure salt is still
used in cooking. Dirty salt is almost the only salt
used by the Filipinos, Chinese, and Indians. Wet salt

MANUFACTURE OF SALT FROM SEA-WATER 47

is still used by the peoples of southern Europe and
South America. Since the food is salted thoroughly
when it is prepared for cooking, salt-shakers are
seldom seen on the tables.

But in Great Britain, Germany, France, and the
United States, salt of the highest purity, practically
free from calcium and magnesium chlorides, is de-
manded for household and dairy use. Impure salt
always becomes wet in damp weather and clogs a
shaker.

Most of the Oriental peoples have lagged far
behind the Occidentals in modern civilization. So
it happens that much of the salt produced in the
Orient to-day is obtained by methods which are
extremely crude, and whose origin dates from pre-
historic times. In the Philippine Islands, large areas
of sandy lands along the coast, approximately at
the level of high tide, are cleared of vegetation and
cleaned. The surface of the prepared land is loosened,
and water is led in from the sea through canals and
sprinkled over the soil, where it rapidly evaporates.
This process is repeated four times a day until a
quantity of salt has accumulated on the surface. The
loose earth, together with the salt, is then scraped
into heaps and collected into leaching-vats, where
it is leached with sea-water or weak brine until most
of the salt has been extracted. The leachings are col-
lected in a shallow cement, earthenware, or clay-lined
well. The weak brine obtained is poured back over
the leaching-vat, and the operation is repeated until
it becomes strong, when it is transferred to shallow
crystallizing ponds.

48 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

These ponds are floored with smooth broken pot-
tery, set in lime mortar to retard seepage and to
prevent the admixture of sand with salt, and are
surrounded with bamboo fences covered with grass
to prevent the wind from blowing dust into them and
to keep the floating crystals from congregating on
the leeward side. More brine is added as required.
When salt begins to crystallize out, the crystals are
raked into heaps every day after sundown, gathered
into baskets to drain, and finally conveyed into ware-
houses. In some parts of the Philippine Islands and
in Japan, this simple, picturesque method is modified
by evaporating the leachings in pans or kettles over
fires built in furnaces.

In China most of the solar salt is made by the
simplest possible process, employing methods which
have been used without change for a thousand years
or more. In fact, there is no record to show just when
the salines were established. The salt is made by
solar evaporation of sea-water without any attempt
at the separation of the impurities. Sea- water is
pumped into large evaporation basins by means of
windmills. The basins are constructed along the
sea-coast and resemble innumerable tennis courts of
great size ; they are arranged in groups, so that sev-
eral may be filled by a central pump. These basins,
which are constructed by leveling the ground and
rolling it with a stone roller until it is hard, are
separated from each other by ridges of mud about
eight inches high. Two or three inches of sea-water is
pumped into the ponds; this evaporates in about a
week, leaving a coating of salt on the bottom. After

MANUFACTURE OF SALT FROM SEA-WATER 49

this salt has been scraped into a pile and shoveled
into small boats, the bottom of the basins is then
rolled again, more sea-water is pumped in, and the
salt making continued. The ponds are connected to
the main salt yards by means of small canals through
which the salt barges can be propelled.

The European Solar Process

In France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and other
countries bordering on the Mediterranean, sea-salt
has been prepared by the solar process for several
centuries. The methods used in these countries are
also in use in many other parts of the world, e. g.,
the West Indies, South America, and Africa. A mod-
ification of the process has been used in California
for many years.

Since sea-water contains only about three per cent
of salt, thirty-two tons of water must be evaporated
for each ton of salt produced. The use of coal or
other fuel to effect the evaporation of this enormous
amount of water would make the cost of the salt
produced almost prohibitive. For this reason the
manufacture of salt from sea-water can compete
successfully with the mining of rock-salt and the
production from salt wells only when that industry
is located in warm dry countries where solar evapo-
ration of the water is practicable. Moreover the
salt works must be constructed on level land adjoin-
ing a bay or the ocean. The ground underlying the
site of the salt works must be nearly impervious to
water. Clays and clayey marls are most satisfactory.

The amount of salt which can be produced on a

50 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

given area of land depends upon the rate of evapo-
ration and the amount of rainfall during the salt-
making season. Since the rate of evaporation usually
is rather low, a large area of evaporation ponds is
required to produce a comparatively small quantity
of salt.

Salines are found along the coasts of southern
France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy wherever there
are suitable areas of low-lying land. The salt gardens,
as they are called, are very picturesque with their
succession of reservoirs, old-fashioned windmills,
and piles of glistening white salt. Many of them
have been operated continuously for several centu-
ries.

Southern Europe produces an enormous quantity
of solar sea-salt. The salines of Trapani alone
yielded 300,000 tons in 1922. Sicilian solar salt is
bought largely by the Scandinavians, who use it in
the preservation of fish. Trapani and Iviza ship
large quantities of salt to America, where it is used
principally in the curing of cod, haddock, herring,
and other fish. In the construction of these salt
works, low-lying flats are inclosed by high dikes to
prevent flooding by high tides or storms. Each salt
meadow or "garden" is subdivided into several ponds
of different levels, connected by canals through
which the brine may be run from one pond to the
next.

The first pond in the system, the concentration
reservoir, is large and deep, and usually at a higher
level than any of the subsequent ponds^ so that the
brine may be run by gravity to the other ponds.

MANUFACTURE OF SALT FROM SEA-WATER 51

This pond acts as a reservoir and sedimentation
compartment, where clay and other suspended mat-
ter settle. Here the preliminary evaporation takes
place.

From this pond, the concentrated, clarified sea-
water is run out into a series of shallow reservoirs,
where the sun and wind effect further evaporation.
During this concentration, iron sulphide, calcium
carbonate, and calcium sulphate are precipitated
and settle to the bottom. The brine in these ponds
is usually pink in color because of the presence of
innumerable red bacteria and the so-called brine-
worms.

As the concentration of the brine proceeds, it is
run from one reservoir to another until it reaches
saturation, when pure salt, sodium chloride, begins
to crystallize. At this stage of the process, the satu-
rated brine is allowed to run into crystallization
ponds, where the salt crystallizes as evaporation
proceeds. Here the brine remains until the impuri-
ties in the solution become so concentrated that they
begin to crystallize with the salt; at this point the
mother liquor, or bittern (from which the crystals
have been formed), is drawn off and either used in
the manufacture of magnesium and potassium salts
or discarded.

The salt obtained by this process is of 93 to 97
per cent purity. The impurities are principally cal-
cium and magnesium salts, which absorb moisture
from the air. Accordingly this solar salt is hygro-
scopic and is of little use except for the curing of
fish and the salting of hides.

52 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Solar Salt Manufacture in the United States

Solar salt is produced in California and Utah.
The Utah industry operates on the shore of Great
Salt Lake. Here the water is much denser than that
of the ocean, and, since the climate of Utah is arid,
solar salt can be produced rapidly.

The California industry is located near San Fran-
cisco in Alameda and San Mateo counties, and in
the southern part of the State near Long Beach
and near San Diego. The waters of San Francisco
Bay are less salty than those of the ocean; yet be-
cause of the absence of fogs, and the adaptability
of the marshlands to the construction of salines,
the solar salt industry has thriven there. The San
Diego Bay region is an unusually fine location for
salines, as it is a long, narrow arm of the Pacific
Ocean. The inflow of fresh water is very slight, and
consequently the salt content of the water at the
southern end of the bay is somewhat higher than
that of the ocean. The net annual evaporation of
this district is unusually high, about fifty inches.

The American methods of pumping the water and
handling the salt are modern in every regard. Large
centrifugal pumps, capable of handling thousands
of gallons of sea-water a minute, are used on many
salines to pump the water to large reservoirs, which
are called storage, intake, receiving, or tide ponds.
On other salt farms, sea-water enters the works at
high tide through canals provided with flood-gates
that open and close automatically as the tide flows
and ebbs. After the bay water has deposited its

MANUFACTURE OF SALT FROM SEA-WATER 53

sediment on the bottom of the storage reservoir, and
the preliminary evaporation has taken place, the
dilute brine passes into a series of concentrating
ponds in which carbonate of lime and then gypsum
crystallize out. The brine is held in the last of the
concentrating ponds, called the pickling pond, until
all of the gypsum has crystallized. The "pickle" is
then nearly saturated with salt, and is run into the
crystallizing ponds. As long as the brine in the
crystallizing ponds continues to deposit pure salt,
it is permitted to crystallize. When impurities begin
to come down with the sodium chloride, the pickle
or mother liquor is drawn off and utilized for its
magnesium chloride content. About an inch of salt
is deposited for each six inches of net annual evapo-
ration; therefore in the San Diego Bay region the
annual deposit of salt is about eight inches. This
may seem like a shallow layer of salt, but an acre
of this depth yields 880 tons of salt. The pond area
of the California plants varies from 500 to 2000
acres. Crystallizing ponds constitute approximately
one tenth of the total area.

Many of the San Francisco Bay plants are very
picturesque, as they have installed a considerable
number of small windmills to pump the brine from
one pond to another. The huge piles of salt as they
glisten in the sun look like mountains of snow mir-
rored in the ponds.

In the smaller salines, the salt is harvested with
picks and shovels and is hauled to the piles in wheel-
barrows. The larger and more up-to-date plants use

54. THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

small dump-cars running on movable rails and
hauled by small gasoline or electric locomotives.

Recently some of the larger salines have employed
the mechanical salt-lifter for harvesting the salt.
This machine consists of a horizontal scraper
mounted on a large caterpillar automobile truck. As
the truck moves slowly along, the scraper takes up
the salt and throws it on a conveyer, which empties
it into dumping-cars on movable tracks. Such a ma-
chine eliminates a great amount of hand labor. Its
invention has done much to aid the California salt-
making industry to keep pace with the times.
Usually the salt deposit is first harvested to within
two inches of the mud floor. Then the remaining salt
is lifted and sold as a lower grade for use as ice-
cream or stock salt.

The salt is harvested more rapidly than it can be
refined. On this account it is dumped in piles near
the mill. Some plants have a number of small piles,
while others stack all the salt in one huge pile. A
large stack is considered to be more economical of
salt, as there is less surface exposed to the weather,
and less salt has to be broken in the subsequent
refining operation. The latter consideration is rather
important, for the surface of a salt pile soon hardens
so firmly that it can be broken only with great
difficulty.

Crude sea-salt as it is removed from the crystal-
lizing ponds contains considerable adhering pickle
and is usually somewhat pink in color. Therefore it
is carefully washed before it is shipped. This is
accomplished by spraying it with brine as it is

MANUFACTURE OF SALT FROM SEA-WATER 55

conveyed on a belt toward the rolls which crush it.
The crushed salt is usually washed again with brine
made from fresh water and nearly pure salt. After
the second washing, the salt is stacked in heaps to
drain. The lower grade salts receive no further re-
fining but are screened after draining. The common
sizes of crushed salt are "half ground" and "three-
quarters ground."

The better grades of salt are carefully dried. The
preliminary drying is accomplished in centrifugal
machines, which whirl the salt free from all adhering
liquor. The drying is completed in cylindrical steam-
heated driers, which revolve slowly as the salt passes
through. After drying, the salt is crushed, sifted,
graded, and packed for shipping.

American solar sea-salt is superior to that which
is manufactured in other countries because of the
greater care used in the crystallization and harvest-
ing, and also on account of the careful washing and
drying that it receives. Our American salines were
constructed more recently than those in Europe, and,
further, American salt users are more fastidious.
For these reasons the California salt makers use the
most up-to-date scientific methods known and pro-
duce the finest sea-salt made.

The uses for which a salt is suited depend upon
the size, shape, and purity of the crystals. Crushed
and screened solar salt consists of irregularly shaped
grains, many of which have sharp, jagged edges
produced by the crushing process. Such salt cannot
be used for many purposes. On this account, much

56 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

sea-salt is refined by solution and recrystallization,
either in grainers or in vacuum evaporators, or pans
as they are usually called.

Soft-grained, flaky salt may be prepared by re-
crystallizing solar sea-salt in steam-heated grainers.
The crude solar salt is dissolved in fresh water until
no more will be dissolved. This brine is limed and
allowed to settle ; it is then preheated and evaporated
in the grainers. A grainer consists essentially of a
long, narrow, shallow vat built of wood or metal
containing a number of pipes which carry the steam
required to evaporate the water. Automatic scraping
conveyers carry the salt to one end and then out of
the grainer. Curiously, this soft-grained, flaky salt
does not taste as salty as crushed solar salt or the
cubical vacuum-pan salt crystals. Dairymen prefer
this grade, as it mixes well into butter. When the
butter is eaten, the teeth do not grate on hard
crystals.

Vacuum-pan salt is preferred for shaker-salt for
dining-table use. This may be produced by recrys-
tallizing solar salt in single or multiple-effect
vacuum pans. In the multiple-effect system, each
vacuum-pan (except the last one) acts not only as an
evaporator but also as a boiler producing steam for
boiling the brine in the next succeeding pan, and as
the condenser for the pan immediately preceding. In
such an apparatus one pound of steam may evapo-
rate several pounds of water. This arrangement is
made possible by having a slight vacuum on the first
pan and gradually increasing the vacuum on each
succeeding pan. Since the temperature of the satu-

MANUFACTURE OF SALT FROM SEA-WATER 57

rated brine falls rapidly when it is introduced into
a vacuum-pan, and because it is kept rapidly boiling,
vacuum-pans produce very fine cubical grained salt.

By-Products of the Sea-Salt Industry

Although salt has been produced by the solar
evaporation of sea-water since prehistoric times, no
use had been made of the bittern or mother liquor
from the crystallization of salt until about 1850.
In that year an unusually clever chemist named
Balard worked out a process of separating potas-
sium chloride, magnesium chloride, sodium sulphate,
and bromine from the bittern. Despite the fact that
the science of chemistry has made great advances
since that time, Balard's process is still in use at
Giraud, France. Many chemists have studied the
problem, but no one seems able to get more from the
mother liquor than Balard. The procedure followed
by him is rather complicated; on this account his
process has not been adopted elsewhere.

In California, bath-salts, magnesium chloride,
magnesium oxychloride cement, and artificial stone
are produced from the bittern. Magnesium oxychlo-
ride cement is a valuable product used in the prepa-
ration of composition floorings, artificial stone,
cement for joining metal to glass, and for other ad-
hesive purposes. It is prepared by mixing finely
powdered, dry, calcined magnesite and dry mag-
nesium chloride; or, if it is to be used immediately
after preparation, it may be made by mixing cal-
cined magnesia with an aqueous solution of mag-
nesium chloride.

58 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

During the World War, when potassium salts
were so scarce, a process of recovering potassium
chloride from bittern was developed in California.
At the close of the war, when the price of potash
dropped, this process was discontinued.

The discard of the bittern from the salt works
represents a tremendous waste. A single large solar
salt works near San Diego, California, produces
40,000 tons of salt each year. Such a plant throws
away 1120 tons of potassium chloride, 10,920 tons of
magnesium chloride, 6400 tons of magnesium sul-
phate, and 96 tons of bromine. At the present price
of bromine (40 cents per pound), this substance
alone would be worth $76,800. When one stops to
think of the tremendous amount of these salts thrown
away by the thousands of salines throughout the
world, it is difficult to conceive of the total waste.

At one time the Stassfurt, Germany, salt mines
were considered to be low-grade mines because of the
difficulty of obtaining pure common salt from them.
Afler the chemists had studied the utilization of
potassium salts, they found that the impurities in
the salt, which had given so much trouble, were more
valuable than the salt itself. Sometime, in the same
way, chemists may be able to separate from the bit-
tern chemicals of greater value than the salt ob-
tained from the original sea-water.

CHAPTER IV

Iodine and Otlier Chemicals from Seaweed

RECENTLY, since science has discovered that
iodine is one of the essential elements for the
growth and health of man and animals, the
public has become interested in it. A lack of iodine
in food and drinking-water causes disorders of the
thyroid gland commonly known as goiter and cre-
tinism. The soil, rocks, and the plants grown on the
earth contain, in general, but extremely minute
amounts of this valuable element. The only impor-
tant deposits containing iodine found on the earth
are the Chile nitrate beds, and those are doubtless of
marine origin.

Despite the fact that the ocean contains sixty bil-
lion tons of iodine, which is practically all of the
iodine of the earth's surface, no iodine is obtained
directly from the sea. Although sea-water contains
only two parts of iodine per million, certain sea-
weeds have the remarkable ability to extract iodine
from the ocean. A seaweed called tangle possesses
this power to a marked degree ; its ash contains more
than twenty thousand parts of iodine per million.

Ever since its discovery in 1812, iodine has been
manufactured from the ashes of seaweed. Until that

time seaweed was burned to produce lye. The sea-

59

60 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

weed-burning industry is a curious survivor from
the days when large factories were unknown. In
those days farmers and fishermen were manufac-
turers of chemicals. The farmers prepared potash
for use in the making of soap, glass, and alum by
leaching hardwood ashes, and the fishermen made
potash similarly by leaching the ashes of seaweed.
Even as late as the beginning of the nineteenth cen-
tury, seaweed burning was one of the most impor-
tant industries of Scotland, and twenty thousand
tons of kelp ashes valued at four hundred thousand
pounds sterling were produced annually. When the
manufacture of soda from common salt commenced,
the value of the seaweed ashes dropped rapidly, and
the production declined until 1841, when large
amounts of iodine began to be produced from this
source. The demand and the price for iodine in-
creased until 1873, when the supply was greatly
increased by the recovery of this element from the
mother liquors left after the extraction of sodium
nitrate from caliche, which is found in the arid
regions of Chile.

To-day the seaweed-burning industry is located
principally in Scotland, Normandy, Norway, and
Japan; small amounts of seaweed are also burned in
Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Since about 400,-
000 long tons of green seaweed are annually col-
lected in Europe, each ton yielding about a pound
of iodine, the entire European production of iodine
is approximately 400,000 pounds. Japan produces
an equal amount.

IODINE AND OTHER CHEMICALS 61

Algae are relatively simple plants, commonly
called seaweeds, which ordinarily grow either under
or partly under water. They differ from land plants
in that they lack true differentiation into root, stem,
and leaf; reproduction takes place by means of
spores. Algae, however, resemble the plants with
which we are familiar in that they are able to synthe-
size carbohydrates, such as sugars and pectins, from
carbon dioxide and water by means of the energy
which they receive from the sun's light rays. The
blue-green and green algae live only in shallow
water at depths where they receive blue light. Red
algae are found at much greater depths where only
the red rays penetrate. Brown algae are found at the
intermediate depths.

The algae burned in the preparation of iodine are
green or brown in color, usually fuci or laminaria,
which grow in relatively shallow water. Three species
of laminaria are commonly burned in Europe for the
production of iodine; their common names are sea-
girdles or tangle, bulbous-rooted tangle, and sweet
tangle. Four fuci also are commonly collected, which
are known to the kelp-burners as black wrack, yel-
low wrack, bladder fucus, and siliquosa. Other
species of algae are also used; in fact, almost any
seaweed found on the beach may be utilized in this
way.

Harvesting of Seaweeds

Since the seaweeds are widely scattered along the
shores, they are cut by hand by the poorer classes
of people living in the neighborhood of the beds.

62 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Most of the weed that is cut is reaped with sickles
and scythes when it is exposed at low tide. Since the
algae grow on irregular rocks, no one has been suc-
cessful in devising a machine for harvesting it. The
larger species of seaweed growing in somewhat
deeper water are harvested by men in boats who cut
the tangle with sickles attached to long poles and
then pull it into their boats. After storms much
driftweed or deep-sea tangle is washed upon the
beach, and is collected, dried, and burned by the
kelp-burners.

Seaweeds are dried in the same manner as hay.
The same care is taken to prevent their being wet
by rain or heavy dew, since this leaches out much
potash and iodine. Because of the difficulty in drying
the weeds in bad weather, no seaweed is collected or
burned in winter.

In Japan the harvesting and burning of the sea-
weeds is done chiefly by commercial firms who obtain
the exclusive privilege of harvesting the seaweed
growing along a section of the coast. This is accom-
plished in much the same manner as in Europe, the
algae being cut from the holdfast by fishermen in
small boats, using sickles or hook-like knives at-
tached to the end of long poles. Some seaweed is also
obtained by dragging weighted hooks behind small
boats.

The concession for the cutting of the algae does
not include the right to gather that which is washed
up on the beaches. On this account, the collection
of the driftweed is done by individuals living in close
proximity to the beaches. After storms, when a large

IODINE AND OTHER CHEMICALS 63

amount of weed has been washed up, whole families
go to the beaches and pull the algae out of the surf.

In the early days of the European potash indus-
try, the dried seaweed was burned in large heaps or
piles. From time to time more seaweed was added,
until all had been burned, and a hard cake of fused
ashes had been obtained. The product was called
kelp and usually contained much sand and foreign
matter.

Now most of the seaweed is burned in long low
kilns. After a fire has been kindled with brush or
straw, the dried algae are slowly added until the fire
has been burning for six or eight hours, or until all
the dried seaweed has been added. The porous ash
in the bottom of the kiln is then worked with a rake
until all of the dried weed has been burned and the
resultant ash is all melted. A single burning of sea-
weed forms a cake of kelp from three to six inches
thick. When more weed has been dried, it is burned
on top of the ash from the first burning. This is
repeated until a cake of ash about two feet thick
has been built up. This cake is broken up while hot
by throwing cold water on it. The kelp is stored in
a dry place until it is shipped to a chemical plant,
where it is made into iodine, bromine, potassium
sulphate, and potassium chloride.

The Manufacture of Iodine

The process by which iodine, bromine, and po-
tassium salts are obtained from seaweed ashes is
rather simple. The seaweed ash is broken up and

64. THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

dissolved in hot water. The saturated solution is then
evaporated, and the potassium salts are crystallized
out. The mother liquor is acidified with sulphuric
acid, mixed with manganese dioxide, and heated in
an iron retort; iodine and bromine are obtained in
the distillate.

Iodine is purified by sublimation, which is accom-
plished by heating it and condensing the resulting
fumes. It is sold either as subHmed iodine or as a
salt, such as potassium iodide. Externally it is usu-
ally administered in the form of tineture of iodine,
which is a solution in alcohol with or without the
addition of potassium iodide. When iodine is taken
internally, potassium iodide is usually prescribed.
In addition to its use in medicine, iodine is utilized in
photography and in the manufacture of many dyes
and chemicals.

The time-honored method of obtaining iodine and
potassium salts by burning seaweed and extracting
the ash is not economical, since nearly half of the
iodine and some of the potash contained in the algae
are lost by volatilization during the combustion of the
weed. Moreover the seaweed must be dried before it
is burned ; on this account the process can be carried
out only during the summer months. For this reason,
no weed is gathered in winter, when large amounts
usually are available because of the severe storms
which dislodge much seaweed and wash it ashore.

On account of this waste a clever British chemist
named Stanford devoted the greater portion of his
life to an effort to invent a method of treating the
weed which would yield more iodine and potash. His

IODINE AND OTHER CHEMICALS 65

efforts resulted in a process resembling the by-prod-
uct coking of coal, by which iodine, bromine, po-
tassium salts, an illuminating gas, light and heavy
oils, ammonia, acetic acid, and charcoal were ob-
tained. The dried seaweed is destructively distilled,
that is, heated in air-tight retorts, and the distillate
is caught in special condensers. The residue consists
of charcoal, potassium salts, and iodides. These salts
are leached out of the charcoal and separated by
fractional crystallization according to a process
similar to the one used in the treatment of seaweed
ashes.

Stanford also discovered a method of obtaining
alginic acid, iodine, and potassium salts from
seaweed.

Potash and Other Products from the
Giant Kelp

The outbreak of the World War cut off America's
supply of potassium salts, which had formerly been
obtained from the Stassfurt mines in Germany. Since
potassium salts are essential for agriculture and
many industries, it became necessary to develop the
American potash resources. The high potassium con-
tent of a giant Pacific coast seaweed, called kelp,
was one of the first sources of potash to attract at-
tention. Because of the acute shortage of all po-
tassium salts, the Department of Agriculture made
a general survey of the various kelp beds along the
coast and established an experimental factory to
demonstrate methods of producing potash and other
products from the kelp. The survey located approxl-

66 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

mately 390 square miles of kelp on the Pacific coast,
about half of which was in the vicinity of San Diego.
These immense beds seemed to offer an almost in-
exhaustible supply of kelp from which the potash
requirements of the United States could be met.
Later the actual harvesting operations indicated
that the amount of kelp commercially available had
been greatly overestimated. Around San Diego, how-
ever, a great deal of kelp was harvested. In 1918
alone, 14,029 tons of potassium salts were produced
from this source, and during the war this industry
ranked second among the potash industries of the
United States.

The giant kelp called macrocystis is the only im-
portant species commercially harvested for its po-
tassium content. It grows from a sort of anchorage
called a holdfast, sometimes as much as two feet in
diameter. A number of stipes (corresponding to the
stems of land plants) grow from a single holdfast.
These stipes are about half an inch in diameter at
the base. They vary from twelve to nearly a hundred
in number, and are very long, sometimes reaching a
length of a thousand feet. The serrated leaves are
about a foot in length and four inches wide. The
leaves are held at the surface by a bulb-like float
called a pneumatocyst. Since this kelp is a perennial,
the beds may be harvested three or four times a year
without danger of exhausting them.

Another kelp called nereocystis often grows
around the edge of the beds of macrocystis. This
plant consists of a holdfast from which stretches a
long stipe that terminates in a nearly spherical float

IODINE AND OTHER CHEMICALS 67

from which a number of long string-like leaves grow.
Small amounts of this kelp were harvested along
with the macrocystis. It contains more potassium
salts but much less iodine than macrocystis.

As harvested, a ton of kelp contained about seven-
teen hundred pounds of water, fifty pounds of po-
tassium chloride, fifty pounds of alginic acid, and
a half-pound of iodine.

In the early days of the industry the kelp was
reaped by hand with large scythes from scows. Some
drift kelp was also collected on the beaches. The
kelp was partially dried either on the beach or upon
frames, and then chopped and sold as a fertilizer
or burned upon open hearths to obtain the ash which
was then used as fertilizer. Such methods are prac-
ticable only when potassium salts are very dear, as
the cost of harvesting kelp by such crude methods is
very high. During the growth of the industry, vari-
ous types of harvesting equipment were tried out.
The most satisfactory device for this work resembles
mechanically the ordinary hay-mowing machine.
This mowing machine, with a cutter-bar about
twelve feet in length, was mounted in front of a belt
conveyer placed before a scow in such a position that
the cut kelp was carried upon the scow. As fast as
the kelp accumulated at the bow of the scow, it was
hauled back by means of a grab-hook operated by a
winch. A harvester of this type could harvest about
fifty tons of kelp per hour.

At most plants the kelp was unloaded by means
of a clam-shell bucket operated by a double drum

68 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

electric hoist. The large plant of the Hercules
Powder Company chopped the kelp finely on board
the scow, thus reducing the kelp to a fluid mass
which could be unloaded by means of a pump.

Potash was recovered from kelp by several differ-
ent methods. The first operation of all the processes,
except the fermentation process, was the drying of
the kelp in horizontal rotary direct-heat driers. The
dried kelp was usually burned in rotary incinerators
or in reverberatory furnaces. In some plants the
ashes were leached and the potassium chloride ob-
tained fom the solution by crystallization.

The United States Department of Agriculture
constructed an experimental kelp-potash plant at
Summerland, California. This factory was built for
the purpose of demonstrating the production of by-
products by the destructive distillation of kelp.
According to this process, the dried kelp is distilled
at a high temperature in vertical fire-clay retorts.
The vapors are led into condensers and scrubbers,
where ammonia, volatile oils, tar, and creosote are
obtained. The residue in the retort consists of kelp
charcoal and inorganic salts. The salts are extracted
with water, thus obtaining a solution from which
potassium chloride is crystallized. The charcoal
residue is washed with hot acid and then again with
water. After drying, it is ready for use as a de-
colorizing carbon, or for absorbing carbon for gas-
masks. Iodine is obtained from the mother liquor
from the crystallization of the potassium chloride.

IODINE AND OTHER CHEMICALS 69

During the World War the shortage of acetone
and other organic solvents suitable for use in the
manufacture of smokeless powder was acute. The
Hercules Powder Company endeavored to partially
fill their own requirements by manufacturing cal-
cium acetate and acetone from kelp. This was car-
ried out at San Diego on a tremendous scale by an
ingenious process involving the fermentation of
the kelp and the separation of the fermentation
products.

The process involved the following steps: The
macerated kelp was brought to the plant in barges,
from which it was pumped by rotary pumps to large
redwood tanks, where it was diluted and allowed to
ferment under the proper conditions of temperature
and acidity. About 150 tanks of 50,000 gallons
capacity each were required to hold the enormous
amount of kelp which was harvested. After two
weeks practically all of the kelp was in solution. The
solution was then filtered and evaporated. As the
evaporation proceeded, a mixture of calcium acetate,
propionate, and butyrate separated; then calcium
acetate and potassium chloride crystallized succes-
sively. Iodine was obtained from the mother liquor.

The products of this remarkable process included
potassium chloride, acetone, acetone oils, organic
esters and acids, iodine, algin, and common salt.
Acetone and certain mixed ketones, which possess
much value as solvents for the smokeless powders
and airplane dopes, were obtained by heating the
calcium acetate in retorts. Algin or alginic acid was
obtained from the leaves of the kelp which remain

70 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

unfermented. The properties and uses of this sub-
stance are described below. The mixture of the cal-
cium salts of acetic, propionic, and butyric acids was
manufactured into esters, which were used in the
preparation of lacquers.

Immediately upon the cessation of hostilities this
plant suspended operations and has since been dis-
mantled. Such a process seems to be economically
practicable only when the prices of organic solvents
and potassium salts are abnormally high.

Algin

Algin or alginic acid is an organic substance, pos-
sessing unique properties, found in large quantities
in many seaweeds. It was discovered by Stanford in
1883, who noticed that when certain laminar ia were
soaked in fresh water a viscous liquid formed in the
sacks of the fronds of the algae. When this liquid
was evaporated to dryness a substance "resembling
albumen" remained. This substance, which was
named algin, is insoluble in water and acids, but dis-
solves readily in solutions of the alkalis or alkali
carbonates.

Stanford recognized the commercial possibilities
of algin and its compounds and carried on extensive
researches to determine their properties and uses.
Later he began to manufacture it, but his factory
was not successful financially. More recently algin
has been manufactured in Ireland and in America.

During the World War, much algin and sodium
alginate was prepared as a by-product of the manu-
facture of calcium acetate by the fermentation of

IODINE AND OTHER CHEMICALS 71

kelp. This process has been described above. The
kelp residue (un fermented leaves) was treated with
washing-soda solution until the leaves were disinte-
grated; then the solution was filtered and acidified.
The acidification precipitated the alginic acid, which
was separated by filtration. Sodium alginate was
prepared by treating the alginic acid with soda.

The preparation of alginic acid is now carried on
in connection with the manufacture of iodine and
potash from laminaria and fuci in Ireland. The
laminaria are macerated for twenty-four hours with
one tenth of their weight of washing-soda. This con-
verts the algae into a very viscous, semigelatinous
mass, which must be heated before it can be filtered
through coarse bags. The alginic acid is separated
from the solution by the addition of a mineral acid,
and is obtained in a compact cake resembling new
cheese. Algin may be sold in this form, or it may be
converted into sodium alginate.

The filtrate from the alginic acid is evaporated
and burned. Potassium salts and iodine are obtained
from the ash according to the method described
elsewhere.

Alginic acid may be molded while wet and retains
its form when dry. In this way it can be made into
many useful articles, which are hard and horn-like,
insoluble in water, resistant to the action of chemi-
cals, and of high dielectric strength.

Sodium alginate is one of the most useful of the
alginates, as it is soluble in water, but can be easily
converted into either alginic acid or insoluble algi-
nates. It is a valuable sizing material, as it imparts

72 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

a thick clolhy feeling to the cloth without the stiff-
ness given by starch. It may be used for the fixing
of mordants in cloth. With shellac it makes a de-
sirable lacquer.

Recently a method of clarifying solutions by the
precipitation of alginic acids in them has been
patented. This process is based on the principle in-
volved in the clarification of solutions with alum.

Fabrics may be made waterproof by treatment
with a solution of ammonium aluminium alginate.
Since this and other ammoniated alginates become
insoluble upon drying, they are used for the prep-
aration of waterproof varnishes.

So many uses for algin and its compounds have
been found that its value should increase from year
to year as its utilization becomes more general.

Seaweed Glue and Other Curious Seaweed

Products

The Japanese manufacture an important sizing
material, or seaweed glue, called funori, from cer-
tain seaweeds belonging to the genus Gloeopeltis.
These seaweeds grow chiefly on the rocks in the
shallow water on the Pacific shores of the Japanese
islands, from which they are gathered either by men
in boats, who use long-handled hooks and rakes to
tear it from the bottom, or by divers who cut it loose.
After the seaweeds have been dried on the beach,
they are sold to funori factories.

The algae are sorted and cleaned before being
made into funori. The Japanese prepare the seaweed
glue by soaking the washed algae in fresh water, and

I'hoto by J. W. Turrentine

FRONT VIEW OF KELP HARVESTER

SIDE VIEW OF KELP HARVESTER

Harvesters such as this were used in harvesting kelp on the Pa-
cific coast during 1917 and 1918

DRYING IRISH MOSS AT SCITUATE

The process is repeated until the seaweed is thoroughly bleached

BUNDLES OF DRIED AGAR READY FOR MARKET

IODINE AND OTHER CHEMICALS TS

then spreading them out in thin layers in the sun,
where they are bleached by alternate wetting and
drying. When the sheets are completely bleached
they are dried and rolled up into bundles resembling
Japanese matting. Nearly a million dollars' worth of
funori is manufactured every year. Osaka is the
principal center of the industry.

Funori is prepared for use as a size by dissolving
in boiling water. It is used chiefly as a substitute
for starch in laundering, for sizing cloth and paper,
and for the preparation of calcimines.

The American Indian utilized the Pacific coast
kelps for several purposes. The stems were not only
used as bait in fishing for sea-urchins, but were also
made into fairly good fishing-lines. The long rope-
like stipes of the giant kelp Nereocystis luetheana
were prepared for use as lines by first washing them
in running water for several days, then partially
drying and smoking them, and then knotting them
together. In order to reduce the size of the lines, the
smoked stems were stretched and then dried further
in the sun. Such lines were strong and flexible while
wet but became brittle when dried. The Indians also
used eel-grass in basket-weaving. The Eskimos coil
the long hollow stems of kelp and use the coil as a
worm condenser for distilling hoochena, a popular
Arctic drink.

For many centuries seaweeds have been used as
fertilizer in Japan, China, Great Britain, France,
and many other countries. They increase crop yields
because of their water-soluble potassium content and

74 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

also on account of their nitrogenous constituents.
Algae contain so much water and so little solid mat-
ter and are so difficult to dry that they are usually
not transported far from the coast but are used by
farmers in the immediate vicinity.

In Norway and Ireland, Irish moss and other
rockweeds are gathered, boiled, and mixed with meal
for use as cattle and hog feed. Wrack and other
seaweeds are components of certain commercial
stock feeds prepared in Norway and Denmark.
Seaweeds, however, are rather poor animal feeds, as
they are too high in inorganic constituents and are
not easily digested ; few animals like them.

Although the most important use of the Irish moss
is as a food, much is utilized in many other ways.
In the British Isles it is used as a size. Some is also
used as an ingredient of shaving-soaps, calcimines,
shoe stains, and certain cosmetics. Its aqueous solu-
tions are rather viscous; on this account, it is used
for thickening dye solutions used in printing calico.

From time to time processes of manufacturing
paper from algae and other marine plants have been
suggested. Excellent paper has been prepared from
the eel-grass {Zostera marina), a grass-like plant
of the pond-weed family.

One of the most interesting uses of algae is for
decorative purposes. The Japanese use several
species, which remain green when dried, for the
decoration of their homes on New Year's day, in
much the same way that we use holly.

Many species of algae are used in the manufacture
of ornaments and curios. The giant kelp. Macro-

IODINE AND OTHER CHEMICALS 75

cystis pyrifera, is leached with water, until most of
the salts are washed out, and then highly compressed
and dried. The dried product resembles in appear-
ance ebonite or vulcanized fiber. Certain species of
laminaria, which have a hollow stipe and when dry
are hard and horny, are made into knife-handles.

A submarine plant knowTi as Posidonia australia,
found on the southern coast of South Australia,
contains a valuable fiber which is used in the manu-
facture of cloth, rope, twine, mats, paper, and stuff-
ing. The fiber which is used commercially is obtained
from large deposits of the dead plant in Moonta
Bay, South Australia, where it is found to a depth
of nine feet.

Certain laminaria contain a considerable amount
of the sugar, mannite ; methods have been proposed
for preparing manna from these algae. The natives
of Kamchatka prepare an alcoholic drink by the
fermentation of the dulse.

In the British Isles, France, and Holland, large
quantities of eel-grass are dried and used in the
stufiing of mattresses and upholstery. This marine
plant thrives only on muddy bottoms in shallow
water in protected places. Since the grass does not
grow above the low-water mark, it is necessary for
the men who harvest the plant to mow the grass in
shallow water at low tide. It is cured by alternate
drying and soaking. Immediately upon harvesting,
the grass is dried upon the beach. When nearly dried
it is soaked in ditches filled with fresh water. Then
it is dried again; this process is repeated until it is
very black. After the final drying it is taken to

76 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

warehouses, where it is pressed into bales of one
hundred pounds each and sold for use as a substi-
tute for hair.

When one considers the wide variety of uses to
which seaweeds are put and the large number of
valuable products made from these marine plants,
it is a wonder that larger quantities of these algae
are not utiHzed. Perhaps, as the world grows more
crowded, we will look more and more to the ocean
for food and raw material for our manufactures.

CHAPTER V
Edible Seaweeds

SO little seaweed is eaten in America that most
persons do not know that many species of algae
are edible. Some Irish moss is prepared in
Massachusetts, and agar is manufactured in one
factory in California. In many parts of the world,
however, large quantities of seaweeds are eaten as
vegetables, in soup, in jellies, and in many other
ways. The Hawaiians are especially fond of all sorts
of seaweeds, utilizing more than seventy species in
all sorts of dishes. The local production is not suffi-
cient to supply the demand, so that much seaweed
is imported from Japan.

Because of the mountainous character of the
Japanese islands, their agricultural products are
insufficient to supply the needs of the dense popula-
tion. For this reason, the Japanese have given more
attention to aquiculture than has any other nation.
Since the Japanese islands are so numerous, the total
extent of the coast-line is very great, being about
eighteen thousand miles ; thus the area available for
seaweed culture is very large. Red laver is the most
important species of algae cultivated for use as food.
The Japanese cook seaweeds in a great variety of
ways. Red laver (various species of Porphyra)^

77

78 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

kelp (Laminaria) , and agar (certain species of
Gelidium) are those which are most highly valued
for food.

It is said that the Japanese have learned from
the Chinese the varied uses of seaweed. Whether or
not this is true, it is known that the Chinese have
utilized seaweeds for many centuries. Chinese cooks
are expert in serving seaweed dishes. A "cabbage"
called pdk-soy is made from dried seaweed. Algae
are used in nearly all of the Chinese soup stocks, and
in many sauces. They cook rice, fish, and vegetables
with many species of seaweeds. Agar is used in bread,
cakes, and also in candies and other sweets.

The Malays and other peoples of the Indian
Archipelago collect great quantities of seaweeds
from the warm tropical waters where algae flourish
abundantly. They boil them to obtain a jelly, which
is either used as such, or frozen, then thawed, and
dried. Large quantities of the weeds are also dried
for general cooking purposes.

A peculiar sauce, called noachman, is prepared by
the inhabitants of Cochin China. One can scarcely
believe that this odoriferous sauce is used as a con-
diment, as its odor is obnoxious to most persons from
the Occident. It is manufactured on a very large
scale from mixed seaweeds, which are reduced to a
jelly by boiling and then mixed with a concentrated
sauce made from garlic. The mixture is emulsified
with fish-oil and water. This powerful condiment is
to be found on all of the restaurant tables of the
Far East, where it is used as Worcestershire sauce
is in England and America.

EDIBLE SEAWEEDS 79

Seaweeds are somewhat more popular in Europe
than in America. Irish moss, dulse, and laver are
the algae most widely used in the British Isles and
along the coast of the mainland. But nowhere along
the coast are marine vegetables so popular as they
are in the Orient.

The energy-yielding food constituents of seaweeds
consist chiefly of carbohydrates together with some
proteins. Because neither the carbohydrates nor the
proteins are completely digested, these foods must
be considered as poor sources of energy.

Their value lies in their antiscorbutic vitamines
and in their content of iodine, bromine, and other
inorganic elements, especially their calcium, mag-
nesium, and potassium salts. Algae have long been
used for preventing scurvy and goiter. Peoples
whose dietary includes a liberal amount of algae are
surprisingly free from goiter and other diseases of
the thyroid. For many centuries the Swiss and Chi-
nese have eaten seaweeds in order to prevent and
cure goiter, but only in recent years has the cause
of its value in the prophylaxis of goiter been known
to be its iodine content. Algae vary widely in their
iodine content, but as a class they contain a great
deal more of iodine than other foods.

They possess one other physiological property
which makes them valuable for certain purposes,
inasmuch as they add bulk to the food and absorb
much water, thus counteracting constipation. Agar
and Irish moss are extensively used for this purpose.
Because seaweeds produce little heat when digested

so THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

and assimilated by the body, they are highly recom-
mended as hot-weather foods for those who do little
manual work.

Alg^ as Food in America and Great Britain

Before 1835, Irish moss was considered a luxury
in America; its price was always a dollar or more
per pound, for the entire American supply was
imported from Europe. In that year Dr. J.V.C.
Smith, at one time mayor of Boston, found it in
considerable quantities on the Massachusetts coast
and suggested curing it. Since then Scituate,
Massachusetts, has furnished sufficient Irish moss
for American needs. Because of the abundance of the
moss on the Massachusetts coast, the price rapidly
dropped, and in 1880 it sold for three cents a pound.

Formerly the Massachusetts industry produced
nearly a million pounds of the dried and bleached
moss annually, but in recent years the production
has decreased until in 1919 only about two hundred
thousand pounds was produced. The center of the
Irish moss industry is still at Scituate, but small
amounts are also harvested at Cape Porpoise, Ports-
mouth, Gloucester, Marblehead, Nahant, Cohasset,
Plymouth, White Horse Beach, and Cuttyhunk
Island, Massachusetts, and at Block Island and
Montauk, New York.

Most of the crop is gathered by men in boats, who
rake the moss from rocks in shallow water. For this
purpose they use a long-handled rake with long fine
teeth. When brought ashore, the moss is washed in
sea-water and then spread out on the beach to dry.

EDIBLE SEAWEEDS 81

After drying for a day or two, It is raked up and
again washed and spread out on the sandy beach to
dry. This process is repeated until the seaweed is
thoroughly bleached; sometimes seven washings are
required. Strange to say, fresh water cannot be used,
for the washing of the moss, as its use alters the
jellying properties of the dried weed.

In America, Irish moss is used chiefly for making
blanc-mange and other puddings and jellies. For
this purpose it is prepared in two forms: the rough
dry, bleached moss, which is usually sandy, rather
troublesome to prepare, and very cheap; and sea-
moss farina, a powdered form, which is prepared
with a cereal and is usually sold in one-ounce pack-
ages. The latter product is more expensive, but it
possesses the advantage of requiring little prepara-
tion and of being very effectual for most purposes.

Sea-moss farina makes excellent blanc-mange with
either fresh or evaporated milk. Blanc-mange Is
eaten either as a dessert or as a substitute for break-
fast cereal in hot weather. Farina custard is a de-
sirable filling for cream-puffs; it also makes an ex-
cellent cold pudding. The rough dry Irish moss or
sea-moss requires more time for its preparation as
blanc-mange and Is not so convenient for use in
general cooking. For the latter purpose, some cooks
prepare a jelly in quantity from the dry moss, and
seal it in glasses in the same way as sugar jellies;
it finds use in all sorts of gravies, soups, and bouillon.

Dulse, a species of Rhodymenia, is found abun-
dantly on the rocky shores of the Atlantic Ocean

82 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

from North Carolina to Maine. More of it is utilized
in New England than in any other part of the
country. In some places along the coast of the North
Atlantic States, it is dried in the sun, and then made
into a relish. In Philadelphia dulse is eaten as a
vegetable under the name of sea-kale.

Agar is the only other seaweed product exten-
sively used as food in America. Some of this algal
preparation is manufactured on the coast of south-
ern California.

As in America, Irish moss is the most popular
edible alga in Europe. It is obtained chiefly from
County Clare and the western coast of Ireland and
is used in much the same way as in the United States.

In the days before tobacco chewing became
common, dulse was often chewed by the Scotch and
Irish. This habit has now been replaced by the
tobacco habit. At present its chief use is as a condi-
ment in many dishes; it is a favorite ingredient in
ragouts, to which it gives a red color, pleasant taste,
and thick consistency.

Laver, or porphyra, oyster green, and murlins are
eaten like spinach. A fucus, commonly called blad-
der-wrack, and certain laminaria are used in the
treatment of goiter and also as antiscorbutics.

Pepper dulse is a rather pungent condiment which
is used in Scotland in much the same way as ordinary
dulse.

Small amounts of many other algae are eaten in
various parts of Great Britain, but the quantity
harvested for food is very limited.

EDIBLE SEAWEEDS 83

The Japanese Edible ALGiE Industry

Although algae grow wild along the great extent
of the Japanese coast, the cultivation of the more
valuable species is a profitable industry. Red laver
or porphyra is extensively cultivated in Tokio Bay
and in many other sheltered coastal waters.

The methods of cultivating seaweeds are quite
different from those used in agriculture. In aqui-
culture the farmer does not sow seeds or cuttings
but fixes in the bottom in sheltered areas of shallow
water bundles of bamboo poles or brush on which
the spores of porphyra are caught and supported
while they grow. The bundles of brush are planted
in October and November in regular lines of deep
holes in the muddy bottom. The porphyra spores
which lodge on the brush grow rapidly, and in a
few months the laver is ready to harvest.

Some porphyra or amanori, as the Japanese call
it, is eaten fresh, but most of the crop is preserved
by drying in the sun. Preparatory to drying, it is
carefully washed in fresh water, finely chopped with
knives, and then placed on small mats made of fine
bamboo splints. After the chopped algae have been
pressed into thin sheets, the mats are placed on in-
clined frames in the open air, where the sheets are
completely dried. The dried sheets of amanori are
stripped from the mats, pressed flat, and packed for
market in bundles of ten. The sheets of amanori are
thin and flexible, like writing-paper, having a glossy
surface and a mottled brownish color. Amanori is
prepared for the table by baking it until it becomes

84 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

green and crisp. It is often eaten with soup much as
Americans eat crackers.

The Japanese also use it in the preparation of a
sort of sandwich called sushi, which is prepared by
placing a thin layer of boiled rice on a sheet of
amanori, with strips of meat or fish on top of the
rice. The sushi is then rolled up and cut into trans-
verse slices.

The Japanese dry certain species of laminaria and
prepare a food known as kombu. This industry is
located chiefly in Osaka, Tokio, and Hakodate. In
Osaka alone there are about forty-five factories each
employing at least ten persons.

The laminaria are gathered in summer by men
in open boats, who tear or cut the algae by means
of hooks attached to long poles. Some is also har-
vested by means of rakes dragged along the bottom.
The laminaria are spread on the beach to dry. When
completely dry the stems are cut off and discarded,
and the fronds are sorted as to size and quality. The
trimmed, sorted kelp is then packed into long flat
bundles and shipped to kombu manufacturers.

Kombu is a product peculiar to the Orient and
seems to appeal only to the Oriental taste. It is pre-
pared from the dried laminaria fronds in several
ways. The most popular product is shredded green
kombu, which is prepared by dyeing the dried lam-
inaria in a boiling solution of the dye, malachite
green. The dyed fronds are partially dried and then
flattened out and compressed in piles in wooden
frames. The laminaria are then shredded by means

EDIBLE SEAWEEDS 85

of a hand plane, the shredded product being dried
on platforms or mats. The dried product resembles
in color, shape, and feel the Spanish moss which
hangs from many of the trees in our Southern States.

Kombu is prepared in many other ways. It is
treated with vinegar, then dried and shredded. The
outer part of the frond is scraped off and sold as
black pulpy kombu. The lighter-colored kombu
which is removed next is called white pulpy kombu.
After the green kombu has been removed, the re-
maining part of the frond is scraped with a very
sharp knife, and the exceedingly delicate and thin
shavings are sold as filmy kombu. The core of dried
kombu is sometimes powdered and put through a
sieve. The product is called saimatsu or finely pow-
dered kombu. Shredded kombu is sometimes cut into
short lengths. After drying, the curled product re-
sembles in appearance the rolled leaves of green tea,
and is known as cha (tea) kombu.

Kombu is used in many various ways by the Ja-
panese. The green shredded product is cooked with
meats and soups and is also served as a vegetable.
The powdered kombu is used in soups, in sauces, and
on rice. The cha kombu is used like tea in the
preparation of a hot drink. Dried kombu is often
coated with sugar or an icing and eaten as a
confection.

The Japanese eat about twenty other algae and
also many products prepared from seaweeds; but
amanori, kombu, and agar are by far the most
important.

86 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Agar and Other Oriental Seaweed Industries

Seaweeds are also extensively eaten along the sea-
coast in nearly all Oriental countries. Seaweeds are
harvested in large quantities by the Chinese, who
have devised a multitude of instruments for securing
the algae from the sea bottom. They prepare jellies
by cooking seaweeds and use them for making
puddings, cakes, and candies. Seaweeds are used to
flavor their soup, rice, fish, and many other dishes.
Many seaweeds are eaten as fresh vegetables, and
some are preserved by drying.

The Hawaiians, like the Japanese and Chinese, are
very fond of all sorts of seaweed, which they call
limu. They eat forty species of algae regularly and
occasionally cook about thirty others. Limu is eaten
both raw and cooked. Sometimes it is boiled with
squid or some other devil-fish, thus producing a jelly
of which the Hawaiians are very fond. They some-
times preserve the algae in about the same way in
which we make sauerkraut from cabbage; the sea-
weeds are broken, pounded, and chopped into small
pieces, then salted and preserved in calabashes or
glass jars. Much seaweed is also preserved by salting
and binding it with leaves.

Seaweeds are popular foods in the islands of the
Indian Archipelago and all around the coasts of
Australasia. Agar, or seaweed isinglass, is exten-
sively used in every part of the Orient for culinary
and confectionery purposes. Delicious jellies, jams,
candies, beverages, and many attractive dishes are
prepared from it.

EDIBLE SEAWEEDS 87

The Japanese manufacture about two million
dollars' worth of agar each year and export much
of it to Europe and America. Agar manufacture is
one of the curious Japanese industries which have
developed without the application of modern science.

The red algae, which are used in its manufacture,
grow on rocks in relatively shallow water and are
gathered from small boats either by rakes with long
handles or by diving. The gathering season extends
from May to October; July and August are the
best months. After cutting, the weed is spread out
on the beach to dry. The dried algae are sold to
manufacturers, whose factories are located back from
the ocean in the hills and mountains, where cold
nights come early in autumn, and where the winter
is long.

The first operation in the Japanese process of
making agar consists in beating and pounding the
seaweed until most of the foreign matter, such as
shells and sand, has been removed. After being
washed with cold water, the cleaned tengusa is spread
out to dry in the sun. It is then bleached by alter-
nately sprinkling with water and drying in the
sunshine. The bleached raw material is boiled for five
or six hours with about fifty times its weight of water
and a little acid. The solution produced in this
manner is filtered and then cooled in wooden trays.
When cold, a firm jelly is produced which is called
tokoroten by the Japanese. This is cut into various
shapes, depending upon the use for which it is
intended. The strips or blocks of jelly are then
placed out of doors on a cold night and frozen.

88 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

The freezing operation is the trick in the manufac-
ture which not only effects a remarkable change in
the structure of the agar but purifies it. The freez-
ing causes the water to crystallize out, so that when
the jelly thaws, most of the water runs out, taking
with it the substances which are soluble in cold water.
After thawing, the agar is left to dry in the sun.
The dried agar is tied into bundles and marketed
in this form. In some of the more modern factories,
artificial refrigeration is employed for the freezing
of the agar jelly. This permits the factories to
operate the whole year, as the manufacturers do not
have to wait for cold weather to freeze the kanten.

The agar industry is one of the American indus-
tries which have been introduced since the World
War. In 1920, a factory having a capacity of
approximately a ton a day was built at Tropico,
California. In that vicinity are large quantities of
red algae suitable for the manufacture of this valu-
able seaweed jelly. The factory is of modern design
and manufactures agar of high quality. Here the
seaweed is bleached by spreading it out in the sun
and washing it with a whirling spray of water. The
plant is equipped with a modern refrigerating sys-
tem, so that it is independent of weather conditions.
Agar is so expensive that, even though the daily
production is small, the value is great.

Chemically agar consists chiefly of a carbohydrate,
a galactan called gelose, resembling in many of its
properties the pectins, which are the jelly-forming
components of fruits. Agar must be pure to be of

EDIBLE SEAWEEDS 89

value, as small amounts of many impurities cause it
to lose its power of forming a jelly with water.

Agar, or kanten as it is called in Japan, has long
been used as a food in the Orient, and is one of the
favorite seaweed foods of the Japanese and Chinese.
It is eaten in the form of jellies, and as a thickener
in soups, sauces, and gravies. In recent years this
seaweed product has found wide application m all
civilized countries. In Europe and in the United
States it is utilized in food preparations such as
ice-cream, jellies, candies, pastries, and many other
desserts. It is also used in fish canning to prevent
the soft canned fish from being shaken to pieces
in transportation; agar fills this purpose very well,
since a dilute solution forms a very firm jelly upon
cooling. It is far superior to gelatin, because the
jelly strength of gelatin is rapidly destroyed at the
temperature at which canned fish is sterilized. Some
agar finds use in the clarification of liquors. A limited
amount is used as a sizing material. Its chief uses
in Europe and America are for the preparation of
bacteriological media for scientific use and in medi-
cine as a laxative. Its action as a laxative is
dependent upon the fact that it has the property
of absorbing and holding water, becoming at the
same time a lubricant and a mild stimulant. Recently
agar has been used with considerable success as a
dressing for certain types of wounds.

CHAPTER VI

Pearls, Mother-of -Pearl, and Imitation Pearls

IT is said that "imitation is the sincerest form of
flattery." If this is true, pearls have held a very
high place in the esteem of beauty lovers, for
jewelers and scientists have been trying for many
centuries to make perfect imitations.

Pearls have been used as ornaments by many
races since prehistoric times. Many of the burial
mounds of the Ohio mound-builders contain pearls
which were buried with the dead. Some of these were
loose; others had been strung and used as necklaces
and wristlets. These indicate that long ago, when
unbroken primeval forests covered much of our land,
the savage men and women adorned themselves with
these beautiful jewels just as we do to-day. The
mound-builders possessed a higher degree of civiliza-
tion than did the later North American Indians, who
did not learn to appreciate pearls, although they
utilized shells in the making of beads for wampum
which they used as a medium of exchange.

The Indians of Mexico and South America were

of a higher plane than those of North America. This

is evidenced by their love of gold, silver, pearls,

and precious stones. When Cortes visited Montezuma

he found the Indian prince decorated with gold,

90

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 91

silver, and precious stones, while his cloak and
sandals were adorned with pearls.

No one knows when pearls were first used as orna-
ments in the Orient. The Hindu princes have sur-
prising quantities of large, beautiful pearls which
have been handed down from generation to genera-
tion for many centuries. The rajah of Dholpur
possessed pearls valued at $7,500,000. During the
reign of Louis XIII, Tavernier, the celebrated
Frenchman, traveled into Asia in search of pearls
and precious stones. He found that the Arabians
and other Asiatics possessed an amazing number of
very fine pearls, and he brought back to France more
than half a million dollars' w^orth of them.

It is probable that pearls were utilized for orna-
mental purposes in the tropics many centuries before
their use became general in cooler climes, for pearl-
bearing shell-fish are much more numerous in warm
waters than in the cooler waters of the temperate
and frigid zones. Perhaps pearls were the playthings
of the children of the prehistoric shell-fishermen. At
all events, savage men did not prize them highly;
such pale, delicate gems were not gaudy enough to
attract them. But, with the growth of intelligence
and refinement, there came increasing appreciation
of these lovely jewels, until now the pearl is con-
sidered to be one of the most precious and beautiful
of all objects of human adornment.

The early Egyptians used pearls as ornaments,
but it was not until the age of the Ptolemies that they
became plentiful. Cleopatra, famous queen of Egypt,
had many pearls of great size and fine quality and

92 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

is said to have been lavish in their use, a notable
instance being the banquet which she gave to Mark
Antony, at which she dissolved and swallowed a large
pearl. The ancient Persians, Babylonians, and
Assyrians valued pearls and used them as ornaments.

When Alexander conquered Persia, pearls were
introduced into Greece. Soon thereafter the Mace-
donians established fisheries in the Red Sea, from
which it is said the Egyptians obtained their chief
supply.

The pearl was an important jewel in imperial
Rome. As the riches of the countries which she con-
quered came into the hands of the Roman merchants,
an extravagant civilization was developed in which
large numbers of persons lived in great luxury.
Under these conditions the extreme excesses of the
rich became ludicrous almost to the verge of insan-
ity. Pearls were lavishly flaunted in many unusual
ways. The Emperor Caligula had a necklace of pearls
placed around his favorite horse. Clodius, best known
from his gluttonous habits, dissolved them in wine,
contending that they improved the flavor. Clodius's
contention may be true, but a little lime would do
equally well for the purpose. Clodius is said to have
dissolved a pearl worth forty thousand dollars in
a cup of wine and then drunk it in order to have
the pleasure of having consumed so much value
at once.

During the past two thousand years pearls have
been so highly prized as jewels that they have had
much influence in political history. It is said that

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 93

they were commonly given as bribes in obtaining
political influence in ancient Rome. Some historians
assert that one of the important motives which
prompted Caesar's conquest of England was the
Roman desire for British pearls. The search for
pearls drew many Spanish colonists to South Ameri-
ca during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The fisheries of Venezuela and Panama were found
especially attractive.

It is difficult if not absolutely impossible to obtain
reall}^^ reliable information concerning most of the
large historic pearls. Descriptions of pearls are
likely to run more to fancy than to fact. The size
of pearls is often multiplied in describing them.
Relatively few large perfect pearls have been found ;
invariably the very large ones are unsymmetrical.
The largest pearl known to exist to-day is the Hope
Pearl, a drop-shaped baroque in the Beresf ord Hope
collection at the South Kensington Museum of
London. It weighs 1887.70 grains (94.385 grams
or about 3.5 ounces). La Pellegrina, now in the
Museum of Zosima at Moscow, is reputed to be the
most perfect large pearl in existence. It weighs
114.45 grains (5.7 grams) and is so lustrous that it
appears to be transparent.

Although to-day we value pearls much more highly
than the mother-of-pearl shells from which they
come, the savage races prefer the shells. For this
reason it is not surprising to know that mother-of-
pearl shells were utilized as ornaments by prehistoric
peoples long before the less conspicuous pearls came

94 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

into favor. No one knows when shell beads were first
used for ornamental purposes, nor when their use
as a medium of exchange became common.

The chank {Turhinella pyrum), or Indian conch,
has been used in India for ornamental and other pur-
poses for many, many centuries. Those shells which
have the whorl running from right to left are espe-
cially prized and are often worth their weight in
gold. The Hindus consider the chank sacred, for in
their mythology Shankar the Destroyer and Vishnu
are pictured as holding a chank shell in one hand;
the Buddhist priests have, besides, used these shells
as horns for many centuries.

Abalone or haliotis shells were used for ornamental
purposes in China, Japan, New Zealand, and the
South Sea islands long before Europeans learned
of their beauty and iridescence.

Nature of Mother-of-Pearl

Before it is possible to understand the nature of a
pearl and appreciate its beauty and color, it is nec-
essary to examine the shell of the mollusk in which
the pearl was formed. Pearls grow in nearly all
bivalves (mollusks with two valves or lateral shells
hinged together) and in some univalves, but only
those found in mollusks with mother-of-pearl shells
are of commercial value. Commercially most of the
pearls come either from the so-called pearl-oyster
or from certain fresh-water mussels. These mollusks
are marvelous creatures which build beautiful, strong
houses for themselves out of the water in which they
live. The exterior of their habitations is coarse and

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 95

rough, but the interior is such smooth mother-of-
pearl that it does not injure their delicate bodies.

The shells of all mollusks are constructed of cal-
cium carbonate and other materials extracted from
the surrounding medium by the shell-fish. The mem-
branous covering of the mollusk, called the mantle,
takes the carbonate of lime and other mineral ele-
ments from the water and deposits them at the
different parts of its folds in the form of the shell.
Nature takes an infinite amount of care in arranging
the crystals of calcium carbonate in such a way as
to form mother-of-pearl. The calcium carbonate
crystals are deposited in regular overlapping layers,
the shell being constantly enlarged at the edge by the
exudations of the mantle, which deposits a protein
called conchiolin for the epidermis, and calcium car-
bonate for the prisms and inner layers of trans-
parent plates, until the shell has attained its growth.

Placed under a microscope, the outer shell is seen
to be composed of a large number of overlapping
horizontal composite plates, which penetrate the shell
to the mother-of-pearl. The edge of a composite plate
appears as a number of prisms placed side by side
lengthwise across the plate edge, but showing dark
intersecting lines where the plates divide. On the
face of the plates these prisms appear as translucent
hexagons cemented together by darker organic
matter. The outer portion of the shell contains much
more organic matter and is of coarser texture than
the inner part of the shell. In certain species of shell-
fish the exterior of the shells is composed of nearly
pure conchiolin, a horn-like organic substance. In

96 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

some mollusks this epidermal covering may be
stripped off easily, while in others it cannot be sepa-
rated from the plates of calcium carbonate prisms.
In the interior of the shell the plates of the calcium
carbonate prisms are much thinner and are attached
together so firmly that they cannot easily be sepa-
rated. The inner series of these plates as they near
the nacreous lining become harder and more compact,
so that the exact place where they join the nacreous
layer is difficult to determine. The nacreous lining
of the shells has the same general composition as the
coarser outer part of the shell except that it contains
less organic matter. It is harder, finer, and more
compact than the outer shell, and is constructed of
nacreous plates which are composed of very thin
waves of calcium carbonate set in a small amount
of animal tissue. These waves are very numerous and
produce a series of fine irregular lines which tend
generally to be straight but often curve as do the
edges of the waves of water when they run on the
sands of the sea-shore. The overlapping of these
thin transparent waves, and the minute undulations
of the layer edges reflecting through the transparent
plates, produce the soft luster known as pearly. The
minute prisms of calcium carbonate also aid in pro-
ducing the chromatic or iridescent effect by splitting
the white light into the several colors of which it
is composed.

Origin and Nature of Pearls

The pearl and the nacre of the shell in which it
grows are of essentially the same composition and

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 97

structure. Pearls are more or less spherical forma-
tions constructed by the moUusk in the same way
and from the same secretions with which it lines the
shell, misdirected by abnormal conditions. Ordina-
rily the mollusk secretes nacre merely for the
construction of the shell ; but if some foreign object
gets within the shell it is covered with a deposit of
nacre, and thus a minute pearl is formed. Probably
the oyster covers the object with nacre as a means
of self-protection, alleviating the irritation caused
by foreign matter within the shell. The mollusk de-
posits layer after layer of nacre on the nucleus, and
thus the pearl grows larger and larger. Until recently
the nuclei of pearls were thought to be grains of
sand, but careful research by modern scientists has
shown that there are several conditions w^hich may
cause the formation of a pearl. The irritating
granule may result from the decomposition of an
organism or may be generated in the mantle of the
pearl-oyster as material for the outer shell, which,
failing to be utilized in this way, becomes a source
of irritation to the tender mantle and therefore is
provided with a nacreous coating.

While the structure and composition of a pearl
are similar to those of the shell of the mollusk in
which it was formed, yet there is a distinct difference.
The mother-of-pearl lining of a shell is composed
of a series of horizontal layers, or skins, as they are
called. Moreover in the shell nacre the wave edges
tend generally in one direction, whereas in the pearl
the lines twist and curl with a concentric tendency.

Chemically the composition of pearls is identical

98 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

with the nacreous portion of the pearl shell of the
oysters in which they are found. Both contain about
ninety-two per cent of calcium carbonate, six per
cent of organic matter, and two per cent of water.
Their density is about 2.^5 times that of water,
and their hardness is comparable to that of fluorite.
Since pearls consist largely of calcium carbonate,
they are easily attacked and destroyed by all the
strong acids. Even some relatively weak acids have
a slight action. For instance, there is sufficient acid
in the perspiration of certain individuals to affect
their luster. Because of the relative softness of pearls,
they must be kept from contact with precious stones.
A pearl ring should never be worn on the same finger
with a ring set with a diamond, ruby, or other stone
setting. No abrasive should ever be used in cleaning
or polishing pearls. Likewise, since chemicals may
stain or dull them, no cleansing agents of unknown
composition should ever be used on them. Ordinarily
soap and water or dilute alcohol should be used in
cleansing pearl necklaces or other pieces of jewelry
containing pearls. Pearls should never be left wet,
nor should they be stored in an absolutely dry
atmosphere. When pearls are stored in a safe-deposit
vault, moist blotting-paper is sometimes placed in
the box so as to prevent them from becoming thor-
oughly dried out.

The Fisheries

Since the only shells which yield valuable pearls
are those containing mother-of-pearl, and but a small
proportion of these contain pearls, pearl fisheries are

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 99

almost invariably carried on in conjunction with
pearl-shell fisheries. Few fisheries could be made to
pay if they were operated for pearls alone. In some
fisheries the shells yield ninety per cent of the value
of the total product. For these reasons the shell
fisheries and pearl fisheries will be considered
together.

Marine pearl shells are always gathered by divers,
either naked or dressed in diving-suits. For some
reason dredges are almost never used, probably
because the oysters seldom are thick enough to make
dredging pay. Where the pearl shells are found in
relatively shallow water, they are usually taken by
naked divers ; but if the oysters are found at depths
of more than fifty feet, the divers must dress in
scaphanders, as native naked divers cannot work
long enough at such depths. Naked diving is the
common method followed throughout the Orient and
has been practised in the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf,
and the Gulf of Manar for many centuries. Naked
divers need few accessories. They merely grease their
bodies, put greased cotton in their ears, and place
some sort of clamp — a forked stick or a tortoise-
shell clip — upon their nostrils. A wicker basket or
net, hung at the waist, serves as a receptacle for
the catch.

The Malabar Hindus and some Egyptians dive
head first from a spring-board attached to the side
of the boat, passing smoothly and rapidly through
the water straight to the bottom. The diver gathers
quickly as many oysters as possible while his breath

100 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

lasts, and places them in the net at his waist, and
then swims rapidly to the surface.

In Indian, Egyptian, and Arabian waters, many
divers use heavy stones to pull them to the bottom.
These divers have an attendant called a manduck.
The manduch suspends a stone weighing forty or
fifty pounds from the boat by means of a rope. The
diver then drops into the water feet first, places his
foot in the line over the stone, takes the net basket
and a second rope in his hand, releases the line, and
sinks to the bottom. Loosening his foot, he searches
for pearl shells, while his attendant pulls up the
stone and adjusts it for the next dive. The diver
places the shells in the basket attached to the line
from the boat. When he is ready to return, he signals
his attendant and, holding on to the line fastened
to the basket, is drawn to the surface by the manducJc.

The Polynesians are said to be the most expert of
all the naked divers. Whole families engage in the
search for pearls ; the boys and girls and women are
almost as expert as the men. These divers hang in
the water by one hand, grasping the gunwale of the
boat while they examine the bottom for oysters
through a glass, which they hold below the surface
with the other hand. When shells are seen, the glass
is put into the boat, the lungs are filled several times,
and the air is slowly expelled. Then the diver takes
a deep breath, and sinks a few feet below the surface,
turns quickly, and swims head first to the bottom,
where he collects as many shells as possible. When
he can stay under no longer, he straightens himself
and shoots to the surface with astonishing speed.

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 101

Most of the marvelous stories told concerning the
ability of naked divers to work at great depths for
long periods of time are gross exaggerations. They
are tales which have been told over and over again,
growing in the telling. As a matter of fact, naked
divers seldom go deeper than fifty feet, and in many
of the fisheries thirty feet is considered good diving.
Few divers remain under water for longer than ninety
seconds, although experts have been known to stay
under for 160 seconds.

The use of scaphanders or diving-suits possesses
many advantages and is gradually becoming more
general. They have been exclusively used for many
years in Australia, where the shells are taken at
great depths. The diving-suits enable a diver to
work at much greater depths for an hour or two
at a time, and to work all the year round.

A man in a diving-suit is a queer clumsy giant.
The outfit is so heavy that the diver has difficulty
in walking while out of the water. The scaphander
is composed of a one-piece rubber suit which the
diver gets into through the neck, a helmet, a corse-
let to which the helmet is screwed, leaden-soled
boots, and chest and back weights to aid the diver
in maintaining an upright position. When dressed,
the diver steps upon a ladder hanging over the
side of the boat; the air-pipe, life-line, and helmet
are attached; a man begins pumping air by means
of a pump in the boat, and the face-glass is screwed
up. The diver drops into the water and then sinks
quickly to the quiet depths below. The man at the
air-pump must be alert, for the diver's life is in his

102 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

hands. If he fails to notice signals on the life-line,
or stops pumping air for a minute or so, the diver
may lose his life.

Only persons with strong constitutions can con-
tinue to follow the diving profession for many years
without permanently injuring their health. The ill
effects arising from injuries are a much greater
danger than sharks, or other fishes, or possible
fouling of the air or life lines.

Divers attired in scaphanders can work comfort-
ably at as great a depth as 125 feet. Recently it has
been learned that divers can work at even greater
depth without great danger, provided they ascend to
the surface very slowly, thus permitting the air to
be released from the bl5od gradually. The danger
appears to lie in the sudden change in pressure
which the diver undergoes, and not in the great
pressure itself.

The pearl oyster prefers tropical seas and is found
more or less abundantly on the shoals and reefs about
the shores of every land lying between thirty degrees
north and thirty degrees south of the equator. It
prefers coral reefs and limestone bottoms. The
largest and finest pearl shells are nearly all found
in the Pacific Ocean within a range of twenty degrees
south of the equator. The best white mother-of-pearl
shells are found on the northern and western coasts
of Australia and on the Aru Islands. The abalone is
usually found in cooler waters, being abundant on
the coast of California and Japan.

Among the fisheries which are especially well

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 103

known for the quality and quantity of pearls pro-
duced are those of the Persian Gulf, Ceylon, Vene-
zuela, Panama, Mexico, and Malaysia. Those known
especially for their mother-of-pearl but which also
yield pearls of value include those of the Aus-
tralian, Society, and Philippine islands, the trochus
shell fisheries of New Caledonia, and the abalone
fisheries of California and Japan.

Cultured Pearls

One of the greatest triumphs of modern science
has been the discovery of methods of making arti-
ficial gems. An artificial gem is not an imitation but
is the genuine article made by a process controlled
by man. Artificial rubies, emeralds, and sapphires
are the result of marvelous inventions by chemists,
whereas the biologists have discovered how to pro-
duce cultured pearls. This is not surprising, since
the pearl is a biological product.

Cultured pearls have been produced since 1894,
and cannot be distinguished from natural or acci-
dental pearls except by an examination of the
center or nucleus. Ever since cultured pearls ap-
peared on the market, there has been much discussion
as to whether they should be considered true pearls
or not. Recently the French courts have decided that
for legal purposes a cultured pearl is a pearl. This
decision should be of considerable aid to the cultured
pearl industry.

The method of causing pearl oj^sters to grow
pearls was discovered by Japanese biologists; one
Kokichi Mikimoto began the commercial cultivation

104 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

of pearls in the meleagrina oyster in 1894, develop-
ing the industry in a scientific manner at his sub-
marine gardens in the Bay of Gokasho, in the
Prefecture of Miye. According to Mikimoto's
process, a shred of pallial epithelium cut from one
oyster is wrapped deftly around a minute nucleus
of mother-of-pearl, thus forming a germinal pearl
sack, or "seed." A strong, sturdy pearl oyster is
opened and an incision made in its outer mantle. The
seed is then inserted through the aperture made by
the cut to a sufficient depth to insure that it will be
entirely enveloped by the subepidermal tissues of
the moUusk. The incision is then closed, and the
oyster is placed in a tray or cage, where it is pro-
tected for about seven years, during which the
meleagrina continues its growth. The oyster secretes
concentric pearl layers around the nucleus of mother-
of-pearl or seed, and eventually it produces a good-
sized pearl.

Successful pearl-culture requires not only great
skill in the surgery of the oyster and the insertion of
the properly prepared nucleus, but also much knowl-
edge and experience in the culture of the meleagrina
or other species of pearl oysters. Mikimoto used
bamboo poles as spat collectors, on which the set
of meleagrina spat is obtained. When the oysters
are three years old, the nuclei are inserted and the
meleagrinse are placed in specially designed baskets,
which are coated with coal-tar to prevent corrosion
and the growth of algae. Seven of these trellised
trays are suspended vertically one below the other
by steel wires from rafts floated on cork buoys.

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 105

Each raft supports sixty cages containing a total
of about seven thousand pearl oysters. The oysters
are carefully guarded, and the water in which they
are grown is examined often. Sudden changes in
temperature are very destructive to the young melea-
grina ; and if for any reason the temperature of the
section of the bay where the cages are anchored
changes suddenly, the rafts are shifted to a more
favorable location. The water must also be examined
often to determine whether or not it contains suffi-
cient of the marine fauna on which the oysters feed.
If the water is found deficient in nourishment, the
rafts are towed to a more desirable place.

Evaluation of Pearls

Pearls are graded much more closely and critically
to-day than they formerly were. The business is now
well organized, and much of the sentiment and super-
stition of the trade has disappeared. For these
reasons it is difficult to compare prices of pearls
in ancient times with those of to-day. For while per-
fectly spherical pearls of high quality command
higher prices than ever before, imperfect ones are
difficult to sell at any price. Large irregularly shaped
pearls which were valued highly when Roman glory
was at its height would attract little notice now.

The value of a pearl depends upon its shape, size,
color, luster, and perfection; consequently, since
it is exceedingly difficult to find two pearls exactly
alike, it is very hard to formulate rules for the
evaluation of pearls. Large spherical pearls are
worth much more than small ones, the value increas-

106 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ing approximately as the square of the weight. Usu-
ally, in estimating the value of a pearl, a base value
for a gem weighing one grain (fifty milligrams) is
established, and this figure is multiplied by the
square of the number of grains that the pearl
weighs. For example, if a one-grain pearl is valued
at ten dollars (called the base price), then a three-
grain pearl of the same quality would be worth ninety
dollars (3^ X 10 = 90). As a rule marine pearls are
of greater value than those from fresh-water mussels,
other considerations being equal. Spherical pearls
with imperfections in one spot are worth nearly as
much as perfect pearls, for the defects can be hidden
by setting.

Seed pearls are those which weigh less than a
quarter of a grain each. These small pearls are of
relatively little value and are often sold in bulk.
Baroque pearls are those which do not have any
typical form, and usually they are of relatively little
value unless the form is that of a flower or animal,
in which case they are prized as curiosities.

Utilization of Pearls and Mother-of-Peakl

Pearls are either utilized for necklaces or are
mounted on pegs or rings or on studs. Strung pearls
may also be made into collars.

When pearls are taken from the shells they require
no polishing or other preparation as do precious
stones. If they are to be strung, they must be drilled.
Formerly this was accomplished by means of a bow-
drill operated by hand. This operation is so slow
and tedious that one man can drill not more than

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 107

fifty pearls of average size in one day. But since
machine drills have been adopted, one man can pierce
that number of pearls in an hour. Experts do the
drilling and take great care to drill in such a way as
to improve the quality of the pearls. This is accom-
plished by starting the hole at the poorest part or
spot. In stringing pearls for a necklace, a silk thread
is passed through a metal eye or other object desig-
nated to serve as a clasp ; a knot is then made, and
the end pearl is added, after which another knot
is made, and so on until the pearls have been strung.
The threads on which the pearls are strung gradu-
ally stretch, so that the necklaces must be restrung
about once a year.

Inasmuch as claws hide part of the pearls, those
which are set in rings or on studs are usually placed
on pegs. Double pegs are often used, as they prevent
the pearl from turning and thus becoming loose and
falling off the peg. Great care must be used in
mounting a pearl to prevent the scratching of the
pearl by the setting.

The most important use of mother-of-pearl is in
the manufacture of buttons, although large quan-
tities are also used for the making of knife handles,
inlaid articles, and ornaments of many sorts.

The shells are classified according to their source,
size, color, and quality. The white shells come prin-
cipally from West Australia, Port Darwin, and
Macassar. The yellow shells come from Manila, Mer-
gui, Bina, and Singapore. Green shells are inferior
white ones, often with a greenish tinge having a

108 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

dark outer rim or edge. These shells come principally
from Egypt, Bombay, Panama, La Paz, and Costa
Rica. Black shells are shipped from Tahiti, the
Gambler Islands, and many other islands of the
South Pacific.

The manufacture of mother-of-pearl buttons is
a rather modern industry, for it had its beginning in
Austria only about two centuries ago, the material
used being shells from the Red Sea. The industry has
grown rapidly, however, until now it is the most
important button industry. It is well established in
the United States, France, England, Germany, Aus-
tria, Japan, Italy, and Spain.

In the larger button factories, the shells are first
classified according to species and quality. Then
they are soaked in water for a week or more in barrels
or tanks, thus softening the shells so that they may be
cut more readily. Blank disks, of the size of the but-
tons desired, are then cut by means of a lathe fitted
with a tubular saw having a ratchet handle for grad-
ually forcing the rougher shell against the rapidly
rotating saw. The blanks are classified according to
their thickness by a machine and are then cleaned
by churning with water and pumice-stone or sand
in slowly revolving barrels. The cleaned blanks are
then ground on an emery wheel to remove the horny
backs and reduce the blanks to uniform thickness.
After grinding, the blanks are softened by soaking
in water and are then ready for the finishing machine.
This machine is a marvel of ingenuity, for it rounds
the edges, carves out the center in the desired pat-
tern to make the face of the button, and drills the

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 109

holes, and yet finishes from thirty to seventy buttons
a minute. The finished buttons are cleaned again
with water and pumice and are then polished by
treatment with dilute mineral acid in a churn.

Handles for knives and other ornamental im-
plements are cut and polished in much the same way.
Often the better parts of the large shells are cut
into handles, and the inferior and thinner parts
of the same shells are made into buttons. In this
way the maximum value is obtained from each shell.

Musical instruments, umbrella handles, picture
frames, and many other useful and ornamental
objects are often inlaid with mother-o^f -pearl.
Jewelers use it for the manufacture of bar pins,
combs, shoe buckles, belt buckles, fountain pens,
beads, studs, cuff-links, hat-pins, and the like.

The Italians carve beautiful cameos from pearl
shells. The French use mother-of-pearl to make a
coarse variety of mosaic called nacre cJiinois. The
Japanese make similar ornamental work on lacquer,
forming designs of flowers, fruit, and other figures
by lining the interior surface with layers of pearl.

The sacred chank shell of the Hindus is utilized
in a number of curious ways. Every married Hindu
woman of Bengal wears a pair of chank bracelets
lacquered in vermilion as a token of her state of
matrimony. The custom seems curious to Americans,
but perhaps our American wedding rings seem just
as strange to the Hindus. In other parts of India
the kind of chank bangle worn indicates the caste
of the wearer. The shells are supposed to have mirac-
ulous medicinal powers and are used for the treat-

110 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ment of a number of diseases. The Hindus also use
them in many religious ceremonies, including mar-
riage and funeral rites.

The mother-of-pearl of the abalone is highly
prized for its beauty and great brilliancy. So great
is the demand for this mother-of-pearl that the shells
are worth more than the meats. Some of the shells
are black, some red, and others green. They are
ground on a carborundum wheel until the desired
color is reached, and then are polished further on
a felt wheel sprinkled with carborundum dust.
Finally the shells are polished on a wheel made of
many layers of cotton, on the edges of which tripoli
has been rubbed. A single shell yields about fifteen
pieces of mother-of-pearl, from which buckles, but-
tons, watch-fobs, knife handles, ink-stands, cuff-but-
tons, and napkin-rings are made. Scimitar-shaped
paper knives are often cut from the larger shells.
In Europe and the Orient abalone shells are also
used in the making of inlaid work, such as opera-
glass coverings.

Blister pearls are those which are formed on
the inner side of the shell of the pearl-bearing mol-
lusk. Their origin is much the same as that of true
pearls, for they are formed by the oyster around some
irritating object on the inner shell. The excrescence
conforms in a general way to the shape of the
irritating object.

Abalone blister pearls are very popular in Amer-
ica, where they are utilized in jewelry in many ways

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 111

for the manufacture of such things as brooches, rings,
pins, and cuif-links.

Imitation Pearls and Pearl Essence

The imitation-pearl industry is one of America's
novel industries, having been developed during the
past ten years. When the World War demoralized
the French essence d'Orient industry, American
chemists at once worked out commercial methods of
preparation of this valuable lustrous lacquer, and
soon large quantities of it were being manufactured.
The Japanese also began making imitation pearls of
excellent quality. To-day imitation pearls are cheap
because of the stiff competition between the Ameri-
can, French, and Japanese products. Even the
poorest country maiden can afford to wear a string
of "indestructible pearls" which can be distinguished
from those of her wealthy sisters only by an expert.

Few ladies ever dream that the nacre of the pearl
is obtained from supposedly useless, foul-smelling
fish-scales. Miladi's indestructible pearls are merely
solid opal glass beads coated with a lacquer the
pigment of which is crystalline guanine prepared
from the silvery sheen of fish scales.

The lustrous substance of essence d'Orient, with
which the imitation pearls are coated, occurs on the
scales of most fishes and gives them their char-
acteristic brilliance. When examined under the
microscope, this nacreous substance is seen to be
composed of various sizes of small blade-like crystals.
When the epidermis of the scales is scrubbed off

112 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

under water, the lustrous particles are suspended
in the liquid. The crude liquor so obtained is strained
through cheese-cloth and allowed to settle. After the
crude essence has been washed several times by decan-
tation, strong ammonia is added and the essence is
allowed to stand for a considerable time to permit
the digestion of the proteinaceous material. The
concentrated suspension is pearl essence.

By other improved methods the lustrous crystals
are suspended in acetone, amyl acetate, or other
organic solvents, which are solvents of the nitrocel-
lulose or cellulose acetate lacquer. Pearl essence lac-
quer possesses many advantages over the aqueous
suspension, as it may be applied with a brush as
ordinary lacquer.

Various grades are made, the distinction resting
upon freedom from color and upon the fineness of
the crystals. The best pearl essence possesses a bril-
liant luster and when slightly agitated gives a unique
and most beautiful "whorly effect." The most desir-
able colors are silvery white and slightly pink. Gray
or brown shades of color are undesirable. The better
qualities of pearl essence have uniformly small crys-
tals. The crystals are roughly proportionate to the
size of the fish from which they are obtained. Those
from the herring and alewife are smaller and make
a fine-grain essence of higher quality than those
obtained from the shad.

In making the wax-filled beads, the essence is
allowed to settle, the ammonia is decanted off, and
pure gelatin or fish-glue is put in, so that a con-
centrated gelatin solution is made; an antiseptic is

Courtesy of !M. P. Greenwood Adams

MALAY PEARL DIVER

Most of the pearl shell obtained on the coast of northwestern Aus-
tralia is gathered in this way

3

<

•4->

u
O

a
o

cS
O

o

J3

o
o

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 113

added, and if a flesh tint is desired a very small
amount of eosin or safranine is added. While hot
this mixture is injected with a fine pipette into the
bead, which is being revolved on a toothpick spindle.
As the gelatin spreads over the inside of the bead,
it may be caused to set quickly by brushing a little
ether on the outside. The rapid evaporation of the
ether chills the gelatin and sets it. When the beads
are dry inside they are filled with wax. A mixture
of equal parts of Japan wax and paraffin is often
used to fill the beads. The cheaper grades of hollow
glass beads are blown in molds from tubing. The
finer grades are blown individually of a specially
prepared soft, colorless glass.

"Indestructible pearls" are made in several dif-
ferent ways. By one process, solid "milk" or "opal"
glass beads are dipped in ordinary pearl essence con-
taining some gelatin and allow^ed to dry. A protecting
lacquer of pyroxylin or cellulose acetate in a suitable
solvent is then applied to make the coating w^ater-
proof. These coatings may be applied alternately
several times, and the finished pearl polished with
chamois skin and fine chalk.

Another method consists of incorporating the lus-
trous material directly into amyl acetate, in which
the pyroxylin may be dissolved directly, making a
lacquer that is applied to the bead. When these
solvents are used, the lacquers may be tinted any
desired shade of color by the addition of minute
quantities of dyes.

The beads for "indestructible pearls" are, as has
been stated, of solid opal or milk glass. They are

lU THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

made from tubing, with the hole of a size suitable
for the hole through the bead. Appropriate lengths
are cut off, the holes are plugged with a refractory
material, such as fire-clay or graphite, and the pieces
are then heated to the softening point in a revolving
iron drum partially filled with powdered talc. The
dram is revolved until the beads are all shaped: the
heating is then stopped, but the revolution of the
drum is continued until they are cooled.

H. F. Taylor, formerly of the United States
Bureau of Fisheries, has recentlv devised a very

•'to' w

simple method ^ of preparing a pearl lacquer which
possesses certain advantages over other methods.
According to his process the fish scales are rubbed
in water to remove the valuable lustrous particles.
The suspension obtained is drained off and allowed
to settle, and the supernatant water, containing
whatever blood has been present, is decanted off. The
remaining heavy suspension, containing the lustrous
particles of guanine, is treated with a digestion mix-
ture of pepsin and glacial acetic acid, and allowed
to act forty-eight hours. This completely digests and
removes all the proteinaceous matter from the
guanine crystals. After the digestion, the surfaces
of the crystals are clean, and they now possess the
peculiar property of being more readily wetted by
ether and certain other non-aqueous solvents. Ad-
vantage is taken of this property to obtain clean
crystals suspended in solvents of nitrocellulose lac-
quer : ether is poured into the digestion mixture and

^ "Pearl Essence : Its History, Chemistry, and Technology ," by
Harden F. Taylor, Bureau of Fisheries Document 9S9 (195o).

PEARLS AND IMITATION PEARLS 115

stands as a separate layer on top. When the con-
tainer is gently rocked, the lustrous crystals pass
from the water into the ether layer, leaving all dirt,
organic matter, and the like in the water. Any fatty
or waxy substances dissolve in the ether, but these
may be removed by allowing the crystals to settle out,
decanting the oily ether, and replacing it with clean
anhydrous ether. The lustrous crystals are now clean
and brilliant, and can be kept indefinitely in the
ether or can be easily transferred to ethyl or amyl
acetate. Nitrocellulose or cellulose acetate may be
dissolved in these solvents, thus forming a pearl
lacquer, which is applied directly to the bead.

While essence d'Orient may be prepared in unlim-
ited quantities from fish scales, yet it could probably
be prepared at a lesser cost from synthetic guanine.

Pearl essence is used in the manufacture of many
ornaments other than imitation pearls. Buckles, hat-
pins, stick-pins, watch-fobs, and many other objects
are often ornamented with this, the most beautiful
lacquer. It adds a novel luster to transparent cel-
luloid and bakelite articles. If it were a little cheaper
it would find many uses in household decoration.

Glass beads are also covered with the swim-blad-
der membrane from certain fishe's, thus producing
the so-called Roman pearls. The swim-bladders of
fish are composed chiefly of collagen containing a
brilliant natural deposit of guanine crystals. Their
principal use is in the preparation of isinglass, but
the air bladder of the European smelt (Argentina
sphyrcena) is used in the covering of beads in the
manufacture of Roman pearls.

116 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Detection of Imitation Pearls

Although the uninitiated cannot distinguish real
pearls from the imitations, a jeweler or any other
person familiar with pearls can do so at a glance.
The genuine pearl is 2.6 times as heavy as water, is
opaque, and is not affected by acetone or amyl ace-
tate, but is readily attacked by strong acids. The
hole in a genuine pearl is drilled and therefore does
not resemble a hole in a glass bead. The surface of
true pearls is somewhat iridescent, giving a faint
play of colors, and does not give a well defined reflec-
tion; it can be scratched by a sharp knife.

Since the hollow glass bead imitations are glass
outside, they give sharp, well defined reflections, and
cannot be scratched except with the substances that
will cut glass. They are usually light; the wax-filled
ones often float on water. The surface is not attacked
by any acid except hydrofluoric.

The "indestructible" imitation pearls are lac-
quered opalescent glass beads; for this reason they
are usually translucent and appear yellowish when
held before a light. They owe their luster to their
coating of pearl essence lacquer, which can be cut
or peeled off or dissolved off with amyl acetate or
acetone. This coating is inflammable and seldom
extends smoothly up to the very edge of the hole.
To distinguish between an imitation of this type and
a genuine pearl, the two are immersed in acetone ; the
true pearl will not be affected, but the coating of
the imitation will be dissolved.

CHAPTER VII

Frecious Cored

CORAL has been taken commercially from the
African, Corsican, and Sicilian coasts of the
Mediterranean since the time of the earliest
records. The ancient Greeks and Romans attempted
to account for its origin in their mythology. Ovid
relates that when Perseus cut off the head of the
Medusa the dreadful face never lost the power of
turning things to stone, so that when he hung the
head in the branches of a tree the tree was turned
to stone. Later the nymphs threw these petrified
branches into the sea, where, growing and spreading,
they became coral. A variation of this legend has
it that the blood which dripped from the head fell
upon the shrubs, changing them into coral flowers
and seeds, which were drawn beneath the waves by
the sea-nymphs.

Pliny says that the Gauls used coral for the dec-
oration of their weapons and helmets, and that the
Romans exported large quantities of it to India,
where it was highly prized. The Romans hung
branches of it around their children's necks to pre-
serve them from dangers such as the falling-sickness
and other infantile diseases. Roman women wore
it to protect them from sterility and the influence

of the evil eye.

117

118 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

In the Middle Ages, even more miraculous powers
were attributed to precious red coral. Bartholomeus ^
states that this "stone" was supposed to protect ships
and houses from lightning, whirlwind, tempest, and
storms. Homes that contained coral were not affected
by plagues, feuds, envy, and other influences. Many
medicinal properties were attributed to this beau-
tiful substance. It was given powdered as a cure for
epilepsy, stomach complaints, night sweats, sores,
diseased gums, whooping-cough, disorders of the
spleen, teething troubles, insanity, and many other
disorders. Even as late as the seventeenth century,
powdered coral was administered as a cure for colic
and vomiting.

Of course nearly all of the properties attributed
to it are without foundation in fact. Since it is
merely impure carbonate of lime, a little ground
limestone or powdered marble would be just as
eflicacious a medicine as the finest of coral. The
taking of carbonate of lime, however, gives immedi-
ate relief from certain stomach disorders caused by
the presence of too much acid. In such cases, coral
really would possess therapeutic value.

The belief in the miraculous properties of coral
is not confined to ancient and medieval times. Even
to-day it is worn in Italy to ward off the influence
of the evil eye, and by many women as a cure for
sterility. In India there are many superstitions con-
nected with its uses. Worm-eaten coral is believed
to have magical properties, for many of the natives
think that spirits take up their abode in the little

*"De Proprietatibus Renim" (1536).

PRECIOUS CORAL 119

cavities of the coral. It is also supposed to keep
away evil spirits, and on this account it is given as
a gift to the dead. It is popularly regarded as pos-
sessing the power of warding off cholera and other
plagues. A change of color of the coral is supposed
to indicate the presence of poison or the danger of
illness.

From the Middle Ages to the present time, the
control of the coral fisheries has been an object of
much rivalry among the Mediterranean communities
of Europe. During the Middle Ages the fisheries
were dominated by the Italian states. Charles V of
Spain obtained control of the Tunisian fisheries,
but the Spaniards were unable to hold them, and soon
lost them to the French, who retained them until
the French Revolution threw the trade open. The
British dominated the coral fisheries for a short
period early in the nineteenth century, but soon left
them to the French and Italians, who have held them
ever since. Until the French Revolution, Marseilles
was the most important center of the coral trade, but
since then the Italian cities of Torre del Greco, Gen-
oa, Naples, Leghorn, and Trapani have become the
leading centers.

Nature of Coral

Coral looks like a stone and appears to grow like
a plant, yet it is of animal origin. A single branch
of living coral is made up of a large number of very
small animals, called polyps, which form a sort of
colony. When one considers the large islands, such
as the Bermudas, that have been raised out of the

120 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ocean by these minute polyps which can scarcely
be seen by the naked eye, it is extremely difficult to
conceive of the tremendous numbers of the little
organisms that lived and died in order to rear these
beautiful monuments. The huge coral masses com-
monly known as madrepores, out of which coral
islands and reefs are constructed, all commence as
a single coral animal which grows by budding; the
buds remain attached to the parent, which soon dies,
leaving its limestone skeleton.

Biologically, an ordinary coral animal, or polyp,
does not differ from a sea-anemone except for the
possession of a calcareous skeleton secreted within
its basal tissues. The sea-anemones and corals are
almost the lowest organized group of living animals.
The body is really a simple sac, the orifice of which
is inverted and held in position with relation to the
outer wall by a series of radiating partitions. One
or more rows of tentacles, varying in number and
character according to the species, surround the
mouth of the sac. It does not possess a distinct intes-
tinal tract ; the whole space inclosed within the outer
wall contains the digestive juices. The reproducing
elements are located on the surfaces of the radiating
membranous partitions, which also, in the case of the
corals, partly secrete the symmetrical radiating cal-
careous plates.

The form and color of colonies of coral animals
differ widely, depending on the species. Most of the
common names of the various species are derived
from either the form or color of the colonies, some

PRECIOUS CORAL 121

of the common species being mushroom coral, stag-
horn coral, star coral, brainstone, and flexible coral.

The precious coral, or coral of commerce, is not
found in such enormous quantities as the species
listed above. This coral differs from the common
corals, for the solid, brilliantly colored calcareous
skeleton is deposited as a supplementary basis out-
side the tissues. The colonies of precious coral branch
out and appear to grow as a plant or vine. The coral
branches, however, do not seek the light as plants
do, but spread horizontally along the main stem or
trunk, which consists of the lime carbonate secreted
by coral polyps which lived many years ago, and
is very hard and stone-like in appearance. The
branches are covered with a thin, fleshy, reddish rind
in which live polyps are embedded. The slender ends
of the branches are so soft that they can be easily
cut by a knife, since the polyps in this part of the
branch have not yet secreted much calcium car-
bonate. As the coral branch becomes older, these
polyps secrete their carbonate, thus forming the
stone-like precious coral.

Precious coral is obtained by trimming, cutting,
and polishing the branches of coral taken from the
ocean bottom. Since it has about the same composi-
tion as the mineral calcite, which is composed of
crystalline calcium carbonate, it has approximately
the same hardness and density as this mineral. Com-
pared to the precious stones, coral is rather soft, but
as it possesses some toughness and tenacity it wears
fairly well. Although it scratches easily, the

122 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

scratches do not show, because it is slightly translu-
cent. On account of its carbonate of lime content,
mineral acids attack it readily. Formerly it was
thought that the coral owed its color to its iron
content, but recently it has been shown that the
depth of color varies with the amount of organic
matter. Black coral and red coral, for instance, have
nearly the same composition, except that the former
contains about twice as much organic matter. Red
coral contains approximately 87 per cent of calcium
carbonate, 7 per cent of magnesium carbonate, 1.5
per cent of calcium sulphate, 1.5 per cent iron oxide,
1.5 per cent of organic matter, and 1 per cent of
silica and phosphoric acid. The silica, iron oxide, and
phosphoric acid do not exist in the coral as such, but
as no one knows just how they are combined they
are reported in the conventional way.

The Fisheries

Precious coral comes chiefly from the Mediter-
ranean and the Japanese seas. Some also is taken
from the Red Sea, but this is black in color, and is
not as valuable as the Mediterranean and Japanese
coral.

Coral has been fished in many parts of the Med-
iterranean for many centuries. The most important
coral banks are those on the Algerian and Tunisian
coasts. Here the coral fisheries are carried on as
far as six or even eight miles from the shore and
at depths varying from ninety to nine hundred feet.
Important coral banks also lie on the coast of Sicily ;
the most productive is near Sciacca. These have been

PRECIOUS CORAL 123

actively exploited only for the past fifty years,
although they were well known even in the Middle
Ages. An important fishery also exists along the
coasts of Sardinia and Corsica. Ustica and Lipari,
small islands north of Sicily, also yield some coral.

Japanese coral is produced chiefly in the south-
western waters affected by the warm ocean current.
The Formosa industry is of recent origin and now
produces large quantities of excellent coral.

Coral growing in shallow water near the shores
is often collected by divers working from small boats,
but the largest and most beautiful coral grows in
water so deep that it is inaccessible even to divers
working in diving-suits. This coral is taken by dredg-
ing with curious devices. The dredge boats operating
in the Mediterranean are of two sizes; the larger
ones are Italian vessels, sailing from Messina, Genoa,
Leghorn, and Naples, and range from six to sixteen
tons in capacity. They carry a large lateen sail, a
jib, and a staysail, and are manned by six to twelve
persons, who have eighteen hours' hard work daily
for little pay. The smaller boats, which are of only
three to six tons in capacity, fly the French flag, al-
though their crews are usually Italian. The larger
vessels operate only during good weather, the season
being from March to October ; and usually they are
able to take seven or eight hundred pounds of mar-
ketable coral during this period. The smaller vessels
often fish the year round and are thereby able to col-
lect four or five hundred pounds of precious coral.

The dredge used in the coral fishery is much differ-
ent from that employed in taking oysters and

124 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

scallops. The framework of the Italian ingegno is
constructed of two crosspieces of oak firmly bound
together in the middle, thus forming four long arms,
to which ropes about twenty feet in length are
attached. Strong, square, wide-meshed nets are fas-
tened to the ropes. A heavy stone or piece of lead
fixed to the intersection of the arms of this curious
type of dredge causes the ingegno to sink and to
remain on the bottom while being dragged behind
the boat.

As this instrument is hauled over the bottom, coral
coming in its path becomes enmeshed in the nets and
is carried along until the machine is hoisted to the
surface. As might be supposed, many other objects,
such as rocks, bits of wreckage, cans, and crabs, are
also caught. The procedure is very slow, for the
ingegno is so cumbersome that much time is required
for sinking, raising, and cleaning the instrument
and repairing the nets. Usually the process can be
repeated only six or seven times each day. Moreover
sometimes the nets catch on some snag and are torn
completely off, causing the loss of many nets and
requiring much time for repairs.

The Japanese use a somewhat similar apparatus,
but one which is much lighter and easier to handle.
In this fishery, the drag consists of about sixteen
nets, each about six feet square, fastened to a strong
pole by means of ropes and wires. Each net is
weighted, as is also the bamboo bar. The nets are
arranged so that those attached close to the pole
brush the coral off the rocks, and those which follow
catch it and bring it to the surface, when the appara-

PRECIOUS CORAL 125

tus is hauled in. Small boats manned with only three
or four men are employed in this fishery, for larger
boats are not required to carry the relatively light
fishing gear.

The Grading and Working of Coral

The rough coral taken by the fishermen is sorted
into four grades as follows: (1) dead or rotten coral,
which consists of the main stem and the disk-like foot
of the coral stock; (2) black coral; (S) red coral
of all kinds, with the exception of pieces of remark-
able size; (4) the unusual pieces of special size or
beauty, which are sold as selected coral.

The working of coral is an important industry in
the Italian city of Torre del Greco, where thirty-two
hundred workers are employed in the workshops.
There are also many establishments in Genoa,
Naples, Leghorn, and Trapani. The Italian govern-
ment has established a school of engraving at Torre
del Greco known as the Royal School for Coral En-
graving. Instruction is given in the engraving of
coral and other materials, such as mother-of-pearl,
tortoise-shell, ivory, and hard woods. Clay modeling,
designing, inlaying, and other art subjects are also
taught. Many experts in carving have graduated
from this school, which has aided Italy to retain its
leadership in the working of coral.

Many Japanese are also skilled in the carving of
coral. They are famous for their miniature human
and equestrian figures done in pink coral. The Mat-
sumae collection, which was sold in London recently,
was one of the most valuable ever gathered. Single

126 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

pieces in this collection sold for five thousand dollars.
One of the most beautiful of these carvings is that
of the God of Wealth, one of the seven gods of luck,
which is carved from dark salmon-pink coral. The
Japanese produce about sixty thousand pounds of
coral and work much of this into beads, cameos, and
similar jewelry. Some of the finished product is
exported to China and India.

Precious coral is used principally in the manu-
facture of beads and cameos. Coral beads are made
in either spherical or oval form and are strung as
necklaces, bracelets, or rosaries. The polished ends
of coral branches are often used as watch charms.
Larger pieces are sometimes polished and set in the
handles of brushes, hat-pins, and the like.

Although coral is highly prized in all civilized
countries, the Italians, Spanish, Portuguese, Indians,
and other dark-skinned peoples value it most highly
for personal adornment, as it shows off to better
advantage on dark skins than on light ones. In
Turkey it is not only used for personal adornment
but is also inlaid in the decorated walls of rooms
and employed for the ornamentation of many objects,
such as pipes, handles, and the like. The peoples of
northern Africa, with the exception of the Egyp-
tians, esteem it highly.

The value of coral varies greatly according to its
color and the uses to which it is put, the latter de-
pending mainly on the size. Just now pure white
Japanese coral is in vogue; white beads having a
small spot of pink are especially popular in America

PRECIOUS CORAL 127

and Europe. Rose pink coral is popular in earrings
and in the form of cameos, which are worn as
brooches or set in rings. Cameos are also hung as
pendants for necklaces and watch-fobs and even for
earrings. The Chinese formerly used the finest of
coral beads for buttons on the official caps of the
mandarins. The use of coral in the making of nursery
rattles and bells is a custom which has survived from
medieval times, when coral was generally believed to
protect children from harm.

Selected pieces of coral of the color in vogue some-
times command as much as five hundred dollars an
ounce. The average-sized pieces of common red coral
usually sell at about ten dollars an ounce, while the
small fragments, called collets, often used for the
making of children's necklaces, are worth only a
dollar an ounce.

CHAPTER VIII

Fishes ^

FISH interest nearly every one. Some enjoy
watching them play in a sparkling brook,
others devote a large part of their vacations
to the catching of game fish, while those of a prac-
tical and mercenary turn are more interested in the
food value of the fish which are caught in such
enormous quantities.

In their anatomy, growth, reproduction, and
habits, fish are so different from the other common
animals with which every one is familiar that they
make a fascinating subject for study. How many
persons can explain just how a flying fish flies, or
how to tell the age of a fish.? Some may know why
the salmon leaves its happy home in the ocean to
make a hazardous journey a thousand miles up a
river, but few can tell why the eel goes to sea or
where he goes when he is in the sea. Such points are
not only important from the biological point of view
but are also of great interest to the sportsman and
the commercial fisherman.

The food and life history of our commercial fish
are of more public importance than most persons

*This chapter was prepared mainly by Dr. Samuel F. Hilde-
brand, director of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries Biological Station
at Beaufort, North Carolina.

128

Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries

A YOUNG POTOMAC STURGEON
This fish has long rows of bony phites instead of scales

Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries

A FIVE-FOOT THRESHER SHARK

This fish has an unusual tail fin

Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries

A FLYING FISH

By use of its wings, this fish can soar considerable distances

through the air

Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries

A SAW-FISH

This fish uses its grotesque jaw for lioth defensive and oflFensive

purposes

'^^x r'.VvyWyV,

f cm

Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries

MOSQUITO-EATING TOP MINNOWS

Of the genus Gambusia; the upper is the male and the lower the

female

FISHES 129

realize; their study is of great value in preventing
the destruction of our fisheries by the pollution of
the waters and by over-fishing.

Since fish are the animals of greatest economic
importance found in the sea, a whole section has been
devoted to a consideration of their characteristics.
In this chapter will be presented, in a rather abridged
and simplified manner, the more important and
interesting facts concerning the physiology, life
history, and habits of fish.

Characteristics of Fish

What is a fish? This question immediately brings
to mind animals that live in the water. However, all
that glitters is not gold; similarly, all animals that
live in the water are not fish. Our definition, there-
fore, must be so worded that it will include only
those aquatic animals which form the subject of
this chapter and which, for present purposes, we may
call true fish. This group of animals may be briefly
defined as cold-blooded creatures w^ith a backbone,
with legs and arms represented by fins or rudiments
of fins, and living in the water in which they breathe
by means of gills. This definition excludes many
forms frequently called fish, as for example the
oyster and clam, which are often spoken of as shell-
fish. It also excludes the starfish and the jellyfish, as
none of these animals have a backbone. The whales
and their allies are excluded because they have lungs
and do not breathe by means of gills.

It is utterly impossible to describe the shape or
form of the body in answer to the question. What is

ISO THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

a fish? For the shapes are too various. Some species
are very long and slender, others are plump, still
others are narrow and deep, or low and broad. The
eels, although not related to the snakes, are similar
in shape and serve as examples of very long slender
fish. The long slender body enables these animals
to enter comparatively small crevices, dense vegeta-
tion, and debris, and to seek food in places com-
monly inaccessible to other fish.

Most of our common food fishes are more or less
roundish but frequently somewhat deeper than broad,
tapering both toward the head and the tail. Since
such a shape offers little resistance in the water, the
roundish species often are able to swim with great
speed, which is a marked advantage, as many of them
prey on other fish.

The butter-fishes, the beautifully colored angel
and butterfly fishes, and the porgies have very deep
and narrow bodies. Fish of this shape cannot enter
very shallow water, but they can pass through narrow
passageways, and the compressed body does not
prevent rapid swimming.

The skates and rays compose a group that is the
opposite in shape from the ones just described, for
they are very broad laterally and thin vertically.
The fishes of this group have their mouths more or
less underneath the head, and they usually lie close
to the bottom where they obtain their food.

The flat fishes, that is, the flounders and the soles,
are all deep and narrow and are peculiar in that
they swim on one side instead of vertically. Their
anatomy is remarkable, for they have a twisted skull

FISHES 181

with both eyes on one side of the head. The very
young, however, have the eyes on opposite sides as
in ordinary fishes. As the fish grows and habitually
swims on one side close to the bottom, the eye on the
downward side, that is, the one turned away from
the light, begins its migration toward the light, .for
of what use would an eye be that is turned away
from the light and more or less buried in the sand.^^
Nature usually is economical and makes every organ
serve a purpose. Therefore in the flat fishes provi-
sion is made to bring the otherwise worthless eye
around to the light, even though such a drastic
measure as the twisting of the skull is involved.

The lump-fishes, the puffers, the burr-fishes, and
the porcupine fishes are all rather globular in form.
They cannot swim rapidly, and they cannot escape
from their enemies effectually through rapid retreats.
Therefore nature has provided them with other
means of defense. The lump-fishes are covered with
bony plates and the burr and porcupine fishes with
spines. The puffers, the burr, and porcupine fishes
are all capable of inflating the body, thereby making
themselves much larger in size and causing the spines
and bristle to stand erect.

The most peculiarly shaped fishes live in the deep
seas. Some of these are nearly all head, others have
enormously large mouths, still others are provided
with very long tails of many shapes, each species
being adapted to the peculiar life it leads.

It is an interesting fact that in many species the
males are smaller than the females. The greatest
difference in size of the sexes occurs among the top-

132 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

minnows, for the male is often not much more than
half the length of the female.

Animals living on land generally are covered with
hair or feathers. Fishes, however, are, with some ex-
ceptions, covered with scales. Scales in fish are very
diverse. The tarpon, for example, has very large
scales, whereas the cod has small ones. Scales gen-
erally are roundish. The common eel, however, has
elongate and somewhat rectangular ones, partly
buried in the skin. Scales are very helpful to the
student in classifying fish and are also very useful
in determining the age of a fish, for they bear mark-
ings which are usually significant. In determining
the age of a fish special attention is given to the
rings in the scales, for these form very close to-
gether when growth proceeds slowly, and when
growth is rapid they form further apart. Therefore,
during winter, when the weather is cold and digestion
proceeds slowly — for the fish is a cold-blooded ani-
mal— little growth is gained, and the rings become
very crowded. Similarly, during the summer when
foods are plentiful and the weather is warm, diges-
tion is much more rapid, and growth is quickly
made, the rings form much further apart. Although
the study of the scale for determining the age of
fish is still quite new, it is now possible to state the
age of a given specimen of several different species
with a considerable degree of certainty.

The chief value of the scale to the fish is for pro-
tection, and those that have no scales generally have
other means of protection. The catfishes, for exam-
ple, have large fin spines which bear barbs and are

FISHES 133

formidable weapons. In some of the catfishes poison
glands in addition are provided, and an extremely
painful poison is introduced with each prick of the
spines. The porcupine-fish, which has no scales, is
covered with long quill-like spines; the sturgeons
bear long rows of bony plates; the trunk-fish is
incased in a bony box; and the sharks have an ex-
tremely tough skin covered with shagreen.

The fins, as stated in our definition of a fish, take
the place of the limbs in higher vertebrates and
serve a similar purpose, for they are the organs by
means of which the fish balances and propels itself
in the water. The fins are commonly seven in num-
ber. Three fins are single and in a vertical plane,
and the other four are paired. One pair is attached
to the shoulder girdle and corresponds to the fore
limbs of mammals; the other pair is attached to
some sort of pelvic girdle and corresponds to the
hind limbs.

The herrings and many other fish have a single
fin on the back. Others like the mullets have two
such fins. When two such fins are present, the an-
terior one generally is composed of spines. The cod-
fishes, however, have three fins on the back and two
below the body, behind the vent, all composed of
soft rays. The mackerels differ from other fish in
having a whole series of small fins both above and
below the tail. The skates and rays, which live and
feed on the floor of the waters they inhabit, have no
fin underneath the body, probably because such a
fin would be an obstacle subject to injury, rather
than an aid. The shoulder fins are very small or

134 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

wanting in some of the flatfishes (soles), but are
present in a variety of shapes and forms in other
fishes. In the skates and rays they form a very broad
wing-like fleshy expansion. In the flying fishes these
fins are also long and broad but not fleshy, resem-
bling the wings of birds. As a matter of fact they
are used in a measure as wings, for the flying fishes
are capable of "flying" a distance of a hundred yards
or so. The "wings" in these fishes, however, are not
capable of movements like the wings of a bird; all
the momentum is gained in the water, principally by
the tail fin supported by powerful muscles, the
shoulder fins merely aiding the fish to stay in the air
after it has made its powerful leap, just as the
motionless expanded wings of a bird keep it from
falling directly to the earth.

All the other fins, likewise, are subject to great
variations. The tail fin is forked in some species,
round or pointed in others, with all manner of inter-
mediate shapes. This fin quite probably is the chief
organ of propulsion, whereas the other fins more
nearly serve the purpose of balancing organs. In
the top-minnows which give birth to live young, the
fin situated just behind the vent has a peculiar
connection with sex, for in the adult male it is always
modified and serves as an intromittent organ in
conveying the sperms from the male to the female.
The top-minnow now commonly known as Gambusia,
widely used for destroying the immature mosquito,
which lives in the water, belongs to this interesting
group of little fishes.

The fins in fishes, unlike the arms and legs of

FISHES 185

higher vertebrates, regenerate; that is, they very
conveniently grow back when broken or bitten off.
The regenerated parts, however, are often more or
less twisted and do not always look quite like nor-
mal fins.

Fish usually are so intent on finding something
to eat and so persistent in their search for food that
one is led to believe that they live only to eat. If
that is the main purpose of their lives, then it fol-
lows that the mouth is the most important part of
their anatomy, for the food of fish is not won by the
toil of the hand, as in man, but is captured as well
as eaten by the mouth. Some fish feed on very small
animal and plant life, and others feed on large or-
ganisms. Fish having small mouths generally feed on
small animals and plants. Since fish usually gulp
their food, instead of taking it a bite at a time, their
mouths must be large enough to receive whole what-
ever is eaten. It does not follow, however, that all
fish with large mouths feed on large organisms, for
some fish with big mouths merely take great mouth-
fuls of water and pass it over their gills, which are
provided with a special screening apparatus whereby
minute organisms are removed from the water, and
then, instead of swallowing the water, they let it
pass out at the gill openings. The pipe-fish and the
goose-fish offer two extremes in size of mouth. The
pipe-fish has only a very small opening for a mouth
at the end of a long tube-like snout, whereas the
goose-fish has such a large mouth that in some
regions it is known as "allmouth." Mouths of many
intermediate sizes and shapes are numerous. Some

136 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

fishes have inferior mouths, that is, mouths below
the head, as in the sturgeons, sharks, and skates.
Others have mouths opening upward, as in the goose-
fish already mentioned. The most common form of
mouth is of moderate size, and is terminal and
directed slightly upward.

Interesting, in fact, grotesque developments of
the jaws take place in some fishes. In the half -beaks,
for example, the lower jaw is developed as a tooth-
less, sword-shaped appendage, reaching far beyond
the mouth and frequently being longer than the rest
of the head. In the saw-fishes the upper jaw is
greatly extended. Furthermore the sword-shaped
projection is provided on each edge with a row of
large teeth giving it the appearance of a double-
edged saw. In the gars, both jaws are excessively
elongated, and each is provided with long slender
teeth. The purpose of the unusually developed jaws,
in at least some of the species, is difficult to explain.
In some they serve as weapons of defense, in others
of offense, and in still others of offense and defense.

Many fish, as already stated, gulp their food and
therefore do not need teeth to masticate it. Nearly
all fishes, nevertheless, have some sort of teeth, vary-
ing greatly in size and shape among the species.
Frequently the teeth serve only to grasp and to hold
the prey until it can be swallowed. Such teeth gen-
erally are sharply pointed and directed inward and
backward, as in the weakfishes. Sharks often have
teeth directed inward and backward, with broad
bases surmounted by triangular cusps with finely
and sharply notched cutting edges. Teeth of this

FISHES 137

description not only are suitable for grasping but
they also will cut. Sharks with such teeth, therefore,
are able to take big bites from other sharks and
other animals. The barracuda of the tropics is an-
other fish with large sharp cutting teeth set in
powerful jaws. This fish with its ferocious-looking
mouth is feared more by bathers than the most
vicious shark.

Large coarse teeth, suitable for cutting as well
as crushing, are found among the trigger-fishes. A
trigger-fish occurring on the Pacific coast of Central
America, at the size of about thirty inches, has teeth
not very unlike those of man and certainly quite as
large and massive. Teeth suitable only for crushing
also occur among fishes. The eagle-ray, for exam-
ple, which feeds largely on hard clams, has broad
blunt teeth arranged like bricks in a pavement.
Finally very small teeth are present in the herrings,
mullets, and other fishes which feed very largely on
minute animal and plant life screened from the water
or extracted from the mud. The common shad, for
example, has minute teeth only when young, losing
even these as it matures.

Many fishes have teeth on the bones in the roof
of the mouth, on the tongue, or on the bones in the
throat, in addition to the ones on the jaws. The
most peculiar place of all for teeth occurs in the but-
ter-fishes, which have hooked teeth in the sacs situ-
ated in the esophagus.

It has been shown that some fishes have little or
no use for teeth. Similarly some fishes have no use
for eyes. Those species that live continuously in the

138 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

dark, such as the cave-dwelling fishes, for example,
have only rudiments of an eye and are entirely blind.
Even the species living in shallow water where there
is an abundance of light generally have eyesight
rather poorly developed. Movements in the water
and no doubt some movements above the water are
detected, but it is doubtful that there is any accuracy
about their vision.

The eye, as well as other organs mentioned, pre-
sents great variations. Some fish have very small
eyes, as in the star-gazers whose eyes are mere dots
on the dorsal surface of the head. In the catalufas
the eye is proportionately very large, for a specimen
eleven inches in length has an eye approximately one
and one eighth inches in diameter.

The sense of hearing, like that of sight, appears
to be imperfectly developed. In fact, it is doubtful
if it consists of much more than detecting disturb-
ances in the water. Fish have no external ear, but
have an inner one, consisting of a chamber in which
are situated the ear-stones or otoliths. The sense
of hearing may be assisted in some species by certain
sense organs located in the lateral line that consists
of a series of pores along the side, connected with
tubes richly supplied with nerves.

It has been quite definitely proven that some fish,
at least, can detect odors, but this sense is probably
even more imperfectly developed than sight or hear-
ing. Nostrils in fishes are visible externally only as
pits in the snout, or rarely they project in short
tubes; but they never have a communication with
the throat, as in the higher vertebrates.

FISHES 189

The gills, as has already been stated, have the
same function in fish that lungs have in the air-
breathing vertebrates. Most of our common food
fishes have four pairs of gill-arches, all those of one
side being in a common gill-chamber which has a
single external opening. The gill-chamber is situated
just back of the mouth and is well protected by bony
plates known as gill-covers.

The gills consist of bony arches to which reddish
fringes are attached. Each fringe is provided with a
small bloodvessel. The fish, as it swims with open
mouth, "drinks" great gulps of water. It, however,
does not swallow this water, but lets it flow over the
gills and out at the gill-openings. In this way the
fish breathes, for the flow of water over the gills
means exactly to the fish what inhaling and ex-
haling air means to man. The constant flow of water
over the gills brings the free oxygen in the water
very close to the blood which circulates through the
minute bloodvessels present in the almost countless
gill-fringes. It is through the thin walls of the gill-
fringes that the exchange of oxygen and waste gases
takes place. This process, therefore, is very similar
to that which occurs in the lungs of air-breathing
animals.

Many fishes, in addition to the gill-fringes, have
at least the anterior arch provided with teeth or
bristles, called gill-rakers. In those species in which
they are numerous and close set, they serve the pur-
pose of a screen for removing from the water the
small free swimming organisms which constitute
their food.

140 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Many fishes have a transparent or translucent
body in the abdominal cavity, close to the back. This
body, which is inflated with gas, is called the air-
bladder. It is in a measure comparable with the lungs
of air-breathing vertebrates and occupies a similar
position. When rudimentary lungs are developed in
fishes, as for example in the fresh-water gar, they
consist of a modified air-bladder.

The air-bladder probably has no connection, when
normally developed, with breathing. It seems to be
chiefly an organ of equilibrium, aiding the animal
in rising and sinking in the water; and in some
species, as in the croakers, it is associated with the
voice. The sound made by the croaker, which prob-
ably denotes distress, is so loud that it can be heard
at a considerable distance.

It has already been indicated that the food of
fishes is varied. Obviously various digestive systems
are required. In general, a short alimentary canal
is associated with an animal diet and a long one with
a vegetable diet. A few fishes, living largely on food
extracted from mud, like the mullets, have a gizzard
something like a chicken; the sharks and skates, as
well as a few fresh-water forms, have "leaves" in
the intestines, forming what is known as the spiral
valve. Many fish also have at the pyloric end of the
stomach blind sacs which are sometimes quite long
and numerous. They correspond somewhat to the
troublesome appendix in men.

The color in fishes varies as greatly as it does in
birds, ranging from a somber gray to snow white,
metallic blue, green, purple, and crimson. Nearly

FISHES 141

all fishes are darker above than below, many of them
being pale underneath.

The most brilliantly colored fishes are found in
the tropical seas and principally among the in-
habitants of coral reefs. Many fishes bear protective
colors, as is shown by the fact that individual fish
of the same species vary in color according to the
surroundings in which they are taken. In other
words, fishes like the chameleons change their color
more or less to correspond to the background upon
which they dwell.

Color changes are much more highly developed
in some species than in others. Perhaps the most
striking example of color adaptation among the
fishes occurs in the flounders. It has been shown ex-
perimentally that the southern flounder, if placed
on backgrounds of various shades and patterns,
simulates them to a surprising degree ; that is, when
placed on red, it turns red, on yellow it turns yel-
low, and so on, making it possible to produce in this
fish any color desired. Furthermore when it is placed
on» fine sand it not only acquires the color of the
sand but the markings on the body become small;
when placed on coarse shells the markings become
larger, showing that both the color and the pattern
are simulated.

Foods

Fish eat a very large variety of foods, including
many plants and practically all aquatic animals of
suitable size. The majority of the species subsist on
an animal diet and are said to be carnivorous. Those

142 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

feeding on plants are referred to as herbivorous
fishes.

The size of the fish generally offers no suggestion
at all as to the kind of food consumed, because some
large fish feed only on minute organisms, whereas
some small ones feed on comparatively large forms
of life. The structure and size of the mouth, the
teeth, the gill-rakers, and the alimentary canal, how-
ever, frequently afford a clue to the general type of
food eaten. To determine the particular animals
and plants upon which the various species subsist
is much more difficult, for it requires an examination
of the contents of numerous stomachs. Certain
species, as for example the menhaden and the mul-
lets, feed on minute organisms. In the study of the
stomach contents of such fishes a microscope is re-
quired. This adds to the difficulty and greatly to
the tediousness of the work. In those species which
feed on large foods, the undigested parts often are
fragmentary, making identification difficult and un-
certain. Furthermore the food of the young usually
differs very considerably from that of the adulis,
and not infrequently stomachs are empty.

It is an interesting fact that whereas some species,
including large ones, feed on microscopic organisms,
others take tremendously large forms in proportion
to their size. Certain fishes at times have been known
to swallow other fish longer than themselves. The
writer once caught a tropical fresh-water goby four-
teen and a half inches long which had partly swal-
lowed a goby of a different species eight and a half
inches in length. The head of this "morsel" was in

FISHES 143

the stomach and partly digested, whereas the tail
still projected from the mouth.

Some species, particularly those that strain their
food from the water in the form of microscopic or-
ganisms, appear to feed constantly, for they do not
acquire their food in large quantities at one time.
Others, as has been already shown, gorge themselves
at one gulp and then, of course, cease feeding until
their meal is digested and hunger prompts a re-
newed search for food. The goose-fish, which feeds on
almost any kind of animal life of suitable size, fre-
quently contains within its stomach a quantity of
food equal to half its own weight.

It has already been stated that the majority of
our fishes live wholly or partly on an animal diet.
Many animals eaten by fish in turn feed upon other
animal life. The original source of food of all ani-
mals consists of plants, and therefore, in the final
analysis, all fish depend upon the plant kingdom for
food. The close relationship, that is, the dependence
of one form of animal life upon another and their
final dependence upon plant life, has generally not
been given sufficient study. The decline in the abun-
dance, or the total disappearance, of certain fishes
from various waters has been charged to over-fishing,
or to the presence of introduced species, whereas in
reality the main cause of the decline was a break
somewhere in the chain of food supply. Pollutions
incident to an ever-increasing population and con-
sequent industrial development without doubt con-
stitute the chief cause for the scarcity of certain
fish foods, resulting in a decline in previously abun-

144 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

dant species of fishes. Some of our waters have be-
come so strongly polluted that adult fish, even, are
unable to survive at or near the source of contami-
nation. It is highly improbable that young fish, or
the minute organisms upon which they feed, could
live in such waters. It is evident, then, that a study
of the effects of wastes thrown into the waters must
go far beyond a test of the toxic effects they have
upon adult fishes. It is also clear that the absence of
dead fish does not necessarily indicate an absence
of pollutions harmful to the fisheries. It is evident
furthermore that pollutions may affect our fisheries
to a far greater extent than is generally known.

Pollution and a consequent shortage of food is
not, however, the sole cause for the decline of some
of our most important fisheries. Over-fishing, fishing
during the spawning season, reckless destruction of
young and undersized fish by certain types of fish-
ing gear, all contribute toward the same end. The
clearing of forests and drainage • for agricultural
purposes, too, are contributing causes. Dams and
other obstructions which prevent fish from reaching
their spawning grounds are not to be overlooked as
important causes for the decline, for* such obstruc-
tions are especially detrimental to the perpetuation
of the species which come from the sea and asce'nd
fresh-water streams to spawn. The salmons, shad,
alewives, striped bass, and sturgeon, all included in
this class, are of first-rate importance among food
fishes. Interference with the migrations of these
species to their spawning grounds, and pollutions
preventing the hatching or the development of the

EGGS AND EGG-CASES OF FISHES

A and C, Hag-fish. B and D, Terminal processes of hag-fish eggs.
E, Sea lamprey. F, Shark. G, Skate. H, Port Jackson shark.
I, Chimaera. /, Lung-fish. K, Fresh water gar-fish. L. Stur-
geon. 3/, Catfish. ^, Sea bass. O, Shad. F, Blenny. Q, En-
larged blenny egg showing mode of attachment.

FISHES 145

young, cause a great economic loss to the fisheries
of the United States.

Migrations

It has been shown that some fish make migrations
for the purpose of spawning. The salmons, shad, ale-
wives, striped bass, and sturgeons migrate from salt
to fresh water for that purpose, and are said to be
anadromous. The fresh- water eel, on the other hand,
is catadromous, for it migrates from fresh water to
the sea to spawn. The general movement of the cod
is reported to be shoreward during the spawning
season. All species, however, do not make special
migrations for the purpose of spawning, but deposit
their eggs on suitable grounds in the general vicinity
of their habitat.

Migrations for food are made to a greater or lesser
extent by all species. It is readily conceivable, how-
ever, that fish which travel in schools have to cover
more space to find sufficient food than the solitary
dwelling ones. Migrations brought about by the
season of the year, or by temperature, are so closely
associated with migrations for food that it is fre-
quently difficult to determine whether the movement
toward warmer water is for the purpose of escaping
from a low temperature or to find a more abundant
supply of food.

It is not surprising that some marine fishes wan-
der considerable distances in their watery home. It
is even possible that occasionally a few of the wan-
dering species may cross an ocean. On the other
hand, the majority of marine fishes probably do not

146 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

travel far; and, remarkable as it may seem, they
generally stay within comparatively restricted areas.

In general the geographical range of fishes ap-
pears to be limited, first, by barriers of some sort;
second, a fish may reach a certain locality and be
unable to maintain itself there; and, third, it may
maintain itself but undergo such pronounced
changes in the new environment that in time a species
distinct from the original type may be evolved. The
most common barriers hindering fish from becoming
more widely distributed consist of land, of higher
and lower temperatures, and of shallow and deep
water. It is, of course, well known that some species
cannot withstand a high temperature while others
require warm water. A fish from tropical waters
would meet death just as certainly as an Arctic fish,
if an exchange of waters at their normal tempera-
tures were to take place. Similarly deep water would
mean death to the shoal-water fish just as surely as
shoal water would be fatal to the deep-sea fish.

Most of our common food fishes live in compara-
tively shallow water near shore ; many enter bays and
inlets; some enter estuaries of streams; and several
ascend fresh-water rivers. The swordfish, the tile-
fish, the red snappers, the halibut, and to a certain
extent the cod, however, are common and important
food fishes which generally remain some distance
offshore.

Some of the common marine fishes are pelagic in
their habits; that is, they swim and feed in open
water at or near the surface. The menhaden, the

FISHES 147

mackerels, and the common herring, all highly im-
portant commercial species, belong to the pelagic
group. Examples of the opposite extreme, namely,
of fishes dwelling on the bottom, are the flatfishes,
the croakers, the black drum, the kingfishes, and the
skates and rays. Many marine fishes cannot be
classed either as surface or bottom dwellers, for they
may be at the bottom or at the surface, or they may
occupy intermediate depths. Among this large and
varied group are the cod, the sea-basses, the weak-
fishes, the bluefish, the mullets, the spot, the butter-
fishes, the groupers, the grunts, the snappers, the
porgies, and numerous others.

Spawning and Reproduction

Spawning in fishes occurs at more or less definite
periods of the year, the season varying among the
species. The majority, however, spawn in the spring
and summer. Most of the salmons, the striped mullet,
the cod, the spot, some of the flounders, and the
menhaden are among the exceptions, as these all
spawn during the fall and winter. The spawning
period in some species is very short; in others it is
so protracted that it extends over several months.

Nearly all fishes have more or less definite spawn-
ing grounds. The spawning grounds also are the
feeding grounds for the young for some time after
hatching. As the early larval stages, when the fish
first begin to feed, are probably the most critical
of their lives, the condition of the spawning grounds
is extremely important. It is readily understood that
if the proper food on account of weather conditions.

148 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

pollutions, or other causes is not present, the young
fish will perish. The periodical fluctuations in the
abundance of various species which frequently are
noticed are probably in a large measure due to fa-
vorable or unfavorable conditions prevailing on the
spawning grounds. An unfavorable spawning season
of any species is certain to be reflected in the com-
mercial catch at a time when the fish of such a season
should reach a marketable size.

In most fishes the eggs are fertilized at the time
they are laid. In some forms, as in some of the skates
and rays, the eggs are fertilized internally and some-
time before they are laid. In some of the top min-
nows, as for example in Gamhusia, the important
mosquito-eating fish, the eggs are fertilized and also
hatched internally. The young are then brought
forth alive as well formed fish. Many of the sharks
also produce live young, and it is among these ani-
mals that the nearest approach to the process of
reproduction in mammals is found in fishes, for the
embryo shark probably obtains a part of its nourish-
ment from the blood of the mother shark. The baby
shark, however, is not suckled and receives no atten-
tion whatever from the parent after birth.

The care of the eggs and the young for some time
after hatching is not unusual among fishes. The
members of the large sunfish family and the stickle-
backs build nests and guard their eggs and young,
and many of the marine catfishes have the interest-
ing habit of transferring the eggs to the mouth of
the male, where they are hatched and where the
young are guarded until they are ready to go out

FISHES 149

and shift for themselves. In the pipe-fishes the male
has a pouch, consisting of membranous folds, under
the tail or under the abdomen for receiving the eggs
from the female. The eggs are fertilized and neatly
placed in rows in the pouch where they remain until
hatched. The majority of fishes, however, prepare
no nests and leave the eggs to their fate after they
are laid.

The number and size of the eggs produced vary
greatly. They are fewest in those species in which
they are fertilized and hatched internally, and in
general they are fewer in those species which pro-
duce large eggs than in those which produce small
ones. In some of the species, as for example the cod,
one female may have several millions of eggs during
a single spawning period, whereas the red salmon,
which produces comparatively large eggs, probably
rarely has more than about three thousand.

Many marine species produce floating eggs;
others have demersal eggs. The floating eggs gen-
erally are single. Occasionally, however, they occur
in gelatinous masses. The eggs of the goose-fish, for
example, are enveloped in a gelatinous, floating veil,
often measuring over a yard in width and eight to
ten yards in length. The demersal eggs, also, may be
laid singly or in masses. Some species deposit their
spawn on a sandy or gravelly bottom, and others seek
vegetation. The silversides, for example, deposits its
eggs among vegetation to which they adhere by
means of gelatinous threads.

Some of the skates lay eggs which have horny
shells and are more or less rectangular in shape with

150 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

a projection at each corner and are often three or
four inches long and two inches in width. The gaff-
topsail catfish has large spherical eggs about an inch
in diameter. The foregoing are examples of the
largest eggs produced in fishes. Most fishes have
much smaller eggs, the majority producing eggs less
than a tenth of an inch in diameter.

The time required to hatch fish eggs varies from
several hours to a month or more. In general, small
eggs have a shorter period of incubation than larger
ones. The development of the egg is generally
affected by heat, as high temperatures hasten and
low temperatures retard development. A single de-
gree in temperature lengthens or shortens the incu-
bation period in salmon about five days.

Newly hatched fish usually are quite transparent;
they have relatively large heads and eyes, and the
fins are not separate at first but appear as fleshy
folds. Generally when the young fish is a few weeks
to a month or so of age, it resembles the adult suffi-
ciently to admit of its identification. In a few
species, however, the young are very different from
the adults and pass through a metamorphosis be-
fore acquiring the adult form. In the eels, the lady-
fish, and the big-eyed herring the young are ribbon-
shaped and transparent. In this stage they grow to
a length of three inches or more. Then, in the process
of becoming rounded and shaped like the adult, an
actual shortening of the body takes place.

The early growth period in fishes, also, frequently
is accompanied by changes in the mouth, the teeth,
the gill-rakers, and the alimentary canal. Such

FISHES 151

changes usually are accomplished for the purpose
of making provision for a new diet, for it has already
been shown that the food of young fishes is often
different from that of the adults.

Effects of Fishing

Over-fishing, fishing during breeding seasons, tak-
ing and destroying young fish, have been carried on
to such an extent that previously important fishes
have ceased to be of commercial value. This appears
to have taken place in some localities with respect to
the salt-water sheepshead. The bluefish and the hali-
but appear to be destined to suffer the same fate.
The possibility of exterminating a species through
fishing, however, seems very remote. The destruction
of spawning grounds, or making them inaccessible
by dams and other obstructions, or by destroying
their usefulness through pollutions, may in the end
exterminate species spawning in the rivers and near
shore.

The status of our fisheries is such that conserva-
tion deserves renewed, intelligent, and earnest atten-
tion. Our knowledge of the habits and life history
of many species is still inadequate. The effects of
agricultural drainage, of the disappearance of our
forests, and of industrial development upon our fish-
eries has not been adequately studied. Sane and
sound means of conservation have not been fully
developed, and much work remains to be done.

Present-day measures of conservation consist
mainly in restricted fishing; that is, in providing a
closed season when no fish may be caught, or in mak-

152 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ing fishing illegal in certain waters which are known
to be passageways for the fish to their spa\Miing
grounds, or to be actual spawning areas. Another
measure consists in setting a size limit below which
individuals of any given species may not be caught
or marketed. The elimination and prevention of
pollutions, too, are receiving considerable attention.
In the conservation of our marine fisheries particu-
larly, the utilization of many species which are now
wasted deserves consideration.

It is a sad fact that many fishermen do not appear
to understand the necessity of conservation. Too
many of them are concerned only with the present
and are quite willing to let the future take care of
itself; consequently many of them are inclined to
regard such measures as restricted fishing, the set-
ing of size limits, and other regulations as an en-
croachment upon their inalienable rights. It is
evident that most measures of conservation will be
largely ineffective without the support of those who
are engaged in the industry. Therefore a contribu-
tion toward the awakening of all fishermen for the
necessity of conservation will be a contribution
toward preserving an industry and a source of food
for the future.

CHAPTER IX

America's Fisheries

THE origin of the fresh-water and coastal
fisheries dates from remote antiquity. Savage
tribes in all parts of the world, when first
visited by the white man, were already skilled in the
art of catching fish in streams and lakes. Long before
America was discovered by Columbus, the Indians
had learned how to catch fish in the rivers, lakes, and
coastal w^aters. They used very crude lines and hooks,
it is true, but they were very adept in the use of
spears and thus were able to capture many species
of fish.

Ocean fishery, or fishing in the large areas of rela-
tively shallow water far from shore called banks, is
of comparatively recent origin, however. Large sea-
worthy vessels manned by expert navigators and
daring seamen are needed for fishing at sea, and
such ships can be built only by civilized peoples.

There are no records to indicate what people first
practised ocean fishery, but many historians believe
that the Norse vikings were the first to sail great
distances to sea in quest of fish. Even in the Middle
Ages these daring navigators sailed to banks near
Iceland and Greenland, and it is probable that the
Norsemen knew of America many years before

153

154 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Columbus set forth on his eventful voyage. Norway
is a cold mountainous country in which agriculture
is carried on only with the greatest difficulty. For
this reason the Norwegians since the earliest times
have obtained a large part of their food from the
sea. Twenty-five thousand fishing-vessels now sail or
steam to and from Norwegian ports. Every year
they catch about a billion pounds of fish, consisting
chiefly of cod and herring.

The United Kingdom leads the world in ocean
fishery, with a tremendous annual catch of more
than a million tons, approximately two thirds of
which is made up of herring, haddock, and cod. In
191S more than six hundred thousand tons of her-
ring were caught by the British. Assuming that the
average herring weighed six tenths of a pound and
was ten inches in length, we see that this catch in-
cluded two billion fish.

Canada and Newfoundland are close to some of
the world's richest fishing grounds. The Grand
Banks, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the Bay of
Fundy yield large quantities of valuable fish. Fur-
ther, British Columbia possesses important salmon
fisheries and is near the important Alaskan banks.
The Canadian fisheries yield about two hundred
million pounds of cod and an .equal quantity of
herring, nearly a hundred million pounds of salmon,
and in addition large quantities of halibut, haddock,
mackerel, pollack, hake, and cusk.

Germany, France, Holland, and Sweden also
possess important herring and cod fisheries. The
German fishermen catch considerable quantities of

AMERICA'S FISHERIES 155

lemon sole and other flatfishes. The French and
Portuguese have important sardine fisheries. Their
canners use more care in the preservation of the fish
and thus are able to command a higher price for
their product than do the American canners.

Aside from those of Europe and North America,
the only other fisheries of importance are those of
Japan. The Japanese catch about five hundred mil-
lion pounds of herring and an equal quantity of sar-
dines each year. Mackerel, bonito, tuna, porgy, and
yellowtail are also taken in large quantities.

Inasmuch as our own fisheries are completely
overshadowed in importance by our agricultural
products, they receive relatively little attention.
When compared with other fisheries, however, they
are found to be as valuable as those of any other
nation with the exception of the United Kingdom.
No other country produces such a great variety of
fish and fishery products. Our annual catch of sal-
mon is very great, often exceeding half a billion
pounds, and when canned it is valued at about fifty
million dollars. Nearly a billion pounds of menhaden
is taken annually, but, since this fish is much less
valuable than salmon, the product is worth only
about five million dollars. A hundred million pounds
of herring is caught by American fishermen each
year. Many of these are immature fish and are there-
fore used in the preparation of canned sardines.
Approximately fifty thousand tons of cod and an
equal amount of haddock are captured annually.
The haddock all come from the Atlantic, but the
Alaskan banks yield many cod. One of our most

156 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

highly prized fishes is the hahbut, which is caught
both on the Atlantic coast banks and the Alaskan
banks ; the total catch is approximately sixty million
pounds.

In addition to these fishes there are at least a hun-
dred others that are caught in commercial quantities
either along our coasts or on the banks. It is obvi-
ously impossible, in a brief survey of the fisheries
such as this, to enter into a detailed consideration
of so large a number of minor species.

Location of the Fishing Grounds

As is indicated by the list of countries possessing
important fisheries, the valuable fishing grounds lie
almost wholly in the north temperate zone between
the fortieth and sixtieth parallels of latitude. Taken
as a whole, the fisheries of the tropics are unimpor-
tant, and it is unlikely that they will ever produce
large quantities of fish. Relatively little is known
about the fisheries of the south temperate zone, but
since no large banks are known there it is unlikely
that the zone will ever furnish any considerable
proportion of the world's fish and fishery products.
The large continental shelves surrounding Europe
and America, the extensive coastal indentations, and
the large rivers pouring immense quantities of fish
food into the sea support an extensive fish life in
the north temperate waters far beyond what is pos-
sible in tropical and south temperate waters.

The great fisheries of the British Isles and of the
European continent are conducted principally on
the banks of the North Sea and those surrounding

AMERICA'S FISHERIES 157

Iceland, although the French carry on extensive
operations on the Newfoundland banks. The banks
of the North Sea have furnished immense quantities
of fish for more than five hundred years. These
banks lie on the Atlantic continental plateau, an
extension of the continental shelf, or intermediary
ledge between the coast and the great oceanic depths,
which extends from the west coast of Spain along
the coast of France and to the north, supporting
the British Isles. The greatest depth of this great
continental shelf is not more than a hundred fath-
oms; its average depth is about fifty fathoms. As
the water is shallow, the sunlight penetrates to the
bottom, so that much of it is covered by an abun-
dant growth of marine plants, which aid greatly in
the nutrition of large numbers of fish and other
marine animals. These vast fishing grounds, 134,000
square miles in area, yield enormous quantities of
cod, herring, haddock, whiting, flounders, soles,
halibut, pollack, ling, plaice, sprat, anchovies, and
many other fishes.

America's ocean fisheries are conducted chiefly on
Georges Bank, Brown's Bank, and the Newfound-
land banks of the Atlantic, and the Alaskan banks
in the Pacific Ocean. The Newfoundland banks are
of great area. Fishing-vessels not only from the
United States, Canada, Newfoundland, and Labra-
dor, but also from France and other European
countries come here to reap a bounteous harvest
from the sea. The French value these fisheries so
highly that they have maintained small colonies at
St. -Pierre and Miquelon as bases for the fishing

158 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

fleets and as centers for the sale and preservation
of fish caught on these banks. The important food
fishes caught in these shoal waters include cod, had-
dock, cusk, pollack, halibut, and swordfish.

The Georges Bank, which lies in the ocean about
a hundred miles east of Cape Cod, Brown's Bank,
and the South Channel, between Nantucket and
Cape Cod, furnish Boston, Gloucester, and Portland
with large quanties of cod, haddock, hake, cusk,
pollack, and halibut. The Georges Bank is one of
the richest fishing grounds of the world. It is rather
shallow, averaging about one hundred and fifty
feet in depth, and there are spots with as little as
fourteen feet of water over them. Between thesq
shoals and the mainland are depths of more than a
hundred fathoms.

The waters of Georges Bank are often exceedingly
rough. The strong tide, shallow water, and fre-
quency of gales make fishing here a hazardous occu-
pation, especially during February and March. On
February 24, 1862, for instance, a terrible storm
from the northwest suddenly struck the seventy
fishing-vessels anchored on the shoals, and thirteen
vessels with their entire crews were lost.

Brown's Bank lies about sixty miles north and
east of Georges Bank. It is similar to it in depth
and character but is only about one third of its
area. It yields the same fishes as are caught on the
Georges Bank.

The Alaskan bank fisheries are relatively unde-
veloped and have been extensively fished only for
the past fifty years. They offer great opportunities

AMERICA'S FISHERIES 159

and will doubtless furnish America with a larger
and larger proportion of her fish and other marine
products. The principal species caught on these
grounds are herring, halibut, and cod.

America is especially fortunate in possessing the
world's finest coastal fisheries. The Atlantic coastal
waters from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida are
excellent fishing grounds. The Bay of Fundy yields
immense quantities of mature herring for smoking
and salting and small herring for sardines. Large
numbers of whiting, mackerel, shad, smelt, scup,
flounders, and alewives are taken along the New
England coast. The Middle Atlantic States yield
a great variety of fishes, the more important being
alewives, bluefish, butter-fish, croaker, flounder,
menhaden, scup, shad, squeteagues, and whiting.
The Chesapeake Bay is an especially fine fishing
ground, in which large quantities of menhaden,
croaker, squeteague, alewives, and shad are cap-
tured. These fishes are also caught as far south
along the coast as Florida. Many bluefish, cat-
fish, Spanish mackerel, and spot are also caught
in the coastal waters of the South Atlantic States.
The Gulf of Mexico supports an extensive fishery
yielding drum, grouper, menhaden, mullet, sharks,
sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, red snapper, and
squeteague in astonishing numbers. The fishes
caught along the coasts of California, Oregon, and
Washington include bonito, tuna, mackerel, floun-
der, pilchard, rock-bass, salmon, smelt, and sque-
teague. In southern California such large quantities

160 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

of pilchards are caught that the canners cannot make
use of all of them, so that many are converted into
meal and oil.

While Alaska's bank fisheries have not been ex-
tensively exploited, her coastal fisheries constitute
her most important industry. The prepared fishery
products of this territory are of greater value than
those of any other part of the country; they are
now even greater than those of New England. In
1867, when Alaska was purchased from Russia, most
persons could not see what value it could have. It
was called "Seward's icebox" and similar derogatory
names. We paid $7,200,000 for Alaska; and now
we obtain ^yc times this amount of revenue each
year from her fisheries. We think of Alaska as a
great producer of gold, yet compared with the value
of her fisheries the gold production seems negligible.

Alaska's many thousand miles of coast-line, ex-
tensive rivers, and vast banks are excellent fishing
grounds. Here fish are so plentiful that only the
choicest of food fishes are taken. The finest of these
is the salmon, which is taken commercially along the
Pacific coast from the Sacramento River northward,
though nearly three fourths of the total catch now
comes from Alaska, which produced thirty-five mil-
lion dollars' worth of salmon products in 1925. More
than four hundred million pounds of the fish were
caught. Such a large quantity is hard to appreciate ;
it is easier, perhaps, to try to visualize it in larger
units. If these two hundred thousand tons of fish
were placed in barrels holding two hundred pounds
each, and the barrels were stacked end on end one

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AMERICA'S FISHERIES 161

above the other, the height of the column would be
about twelve hundred miles. The fish would fill ten
thousand freight cars.

Fishery Methods

Although in Europe steam and motor-propelled
trawlers and drifters have long since replaced sail-
ing-vessels using hook and line, the American,
Canadian, and Newfoundland fishermen have been
slow to adopt these modern innovations in fishing
methods. Recently practically all of the schooners
have been equipped with auxiliary engines, but rela-
tively few steam trawlers are used. A large part of
the bank fishermen still use hooks and lines, probably
because this method of fishing jaelds a larger pro-
portion of cod, whereas the otter-trawls catch more
of the less valuable haddock.

The actual fishing is done from flat-bottomed,
high-sided rowboats called dories, which are from
eighteen to twenty-two feet in length. From six to
twelve of these small boats are carried by each
schooner. When no fishing is being done, the dories
are nested on the deck of the schooner.

Dory fishing makes the American, Canadian, and
Newfoundland fisherman a distinct type, for it adds
great hazards and labor to his already arduous life.
Once at the banks, the fishermen work from their
dories, which are towed by the schooner early each
morning to the place where the lines are to be set.
These long-lines or trawls are very long, ranging
from SlOO to 2400 feet in length, and are made of
thin but extremely strong tarred cotton. Into these

162 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ground-lines are spliced, at thirty to forty inch
intervals, lighter lines, called snoods or gangings.
Each snood is about twenty-five inches long and has
a strong steel hook attached. When not in use the
long-line is coiled in a tub.

When the line is set, the end is attached to a light
iron anchor, to which a buoy-keg is fastened in order
to mark the location of the trawl. The anchor and
buoy are thrown overboard; then as one fisherman
rows away from the anchored end of the line, the
other dexterously proceeds to whirl the coils of line
and baited hooks into the sea by means of a short
stick which he holds in his right hand. Three or four
long-lines may be joined together and set in this
fashion; another anchor and buoy is attached to
the last end. The trawl now lies on the sea bottom
and is prevented from drifting or becoming tangled
by the anchors at each end.

After being set for an hour or so, the lines are
brought in by the fishermen. As one of the men pulls
up the line and takes in the fish, the other knocks
off the untouched bait and coils the long-line in a
tub. The unmarketable fish, dogfish, sculpin, skate,
and the like, are knocked off into the sea. When fish
are plentiful, the trawl is not taken up but is under-
run ; this operation consists of removing the fish and
rebaiting the hooks, and makes it possible to use the
line continuously without resetting it.

At the end of the day's fishing, the dories are
picked up by the mother ship. Then the fishermen
wash and clean the fish and pack them with chopped
ice. After this has been accomplished, the fisher-

AMERICA'S FISHERIES 163

men bait and coil the gear for the next day's fishing.
Vessels fishing far from the home port usually salt
their catches, and thus are able to remain on the
banks until their vessel is filled.

A few fishermen still fish by means of hand-lines
from dories. Each hand-line is equipped with two or
three hooks and a lead sinker. Usually one man
fishes from a dory, using several lines at a time.
Fish caught on hand-lines are somewhat superior to
those caught on long-lines, probably because they do
not remain on the hook so long.

The great danger in fishing in dories comes from
sudden storms and fogs. In such cases the schooners
have great difficulty in finding their dories. Fisher-
men lost in this way have been known to row without
food or water 175 miles back to land. Fishing in
winter on the banks is about as hazardous an occu-
pation as can be conceived. Many of the Newfound-
land banks lie in the path of the transatlantic liners,
thus adding the peril of being run down by some
great ship. Nothing will bring fishermen out of
their bunks quicker than the fog-horn of a ship close
at hand. Often the schooners are becalmed and lie
helpless, unable to get out of the way.

The American fishing schooners are the finest
commercial sailing-vessels in the world. They are
able to withstand severe storms, but even then many
are wrecked every year by the terrific storms of the
North Atlantic. One of the most dangerous places is
Sable Island, where dozens of wrecked schooners lie
partially exposed to view. Dense fogs, heavy seas,
exceptionally high tides, and the rock-bound coast

164 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

make it exceedingly difficult to land even a small boat
on this island. Thus, if a vessel is in distress and the
fishermen are forced to take to their dories, they have
little chance of making a safe landing.

While coastal and river fisheries are usually con-
ducted on a small scale by fishermen residing near
the water, the bank fisheries are in most cases well
organized and are operated by companies owning
several schooners or fishing-vessels of some other
type. Such a system is necessary since few fisher-
men possess the capital required to purchase a sea-
worthy vessel and operate it on voyages requiring
weeks and even months. In most cases, however, the
captain of the vessel and his men are not ordinary
employees of the corporation owning the vessel, but
are really partners in the fishing enterprise, for they
receive a share of the catch. In some instances the
crew share equally what is left from the proceeds of
the catch after the owner of the schooner has been
paid a quarter of the gross returns and after the
bills for food, ice, salt, bait, cook's wages, and other
incidentals have been paid. On other vessels a wage
is guaranteed and augmented by a share in the
profits. This arrangement adds to the romance of
the fishermen's work, for occasionally they are for-
tunate enough to fill their schooner with marketable
fish in a short time and thus receive a big return for
their trip. Captains with a reputation for large
catches have little trouble finding men for their
crews.

Halibut, tuna, and red snapper are also caught on
hooks and lines. Halibut fishing is a dangerous busi-

AMFRICA'S FISHERIES 165

ness, and so full of thrills that it might be called a
sport. Some of these large and powerful fish can
put up a mighty struggle which will give the fisher-
man more than he can do. Sometimes the fisherman
is forced to cut the line and allow the fish to go free
to prevent the upsetting of the dory.

Strange as it may seem, steamships using the
most modern fishing gear, the otter-trawl, operate
on the same grounds fished by the hand-line and
long-line fishermen. Both catch large quantities of
cod and haddock, although the trawls take a larger
proportion of haddock than the lines, as more fish
of this species are found near the bottom. The
otter-trawl is little more than a huge, flattened
conical bag made of netting which catches all the
fish that come in its path as it is towed along the
bottom behind a steamer called a steam trawler.
The mouth of the bag is held open by two large doors
which are attached to the to wing- warps by chain
bridles. The bag net is made of strong manila twine
and is about a hundred and fifty feet long. The for-
ward end is of three-inch mesh, whereas the smaller
or cod end is made of one-and-one-half-inch mesh
twine.

The net is towed along the bottom at the rate of
two to three miles an hour for an hour or two, or
until the smaller end is thought to be full of fish;
then it is hauled in and the fish dumped on deck,
after which it is again put overboard. The trawling
continues day and night, weather permitting, until
a ship-load of fish has been caught.

166 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Where large numbers of fish are to be found over
a smooth bottom, this method is far more rapid than
long-line fishing. A single steamer sometimes catches
as much as two hundred and fifty thousand pounds
of fish while on a trip of only a few days' duration.
However, both the trawls and the steamers are very
costly compared to schooners, dories, and hand-lines.
Moreover, if a steamer is unfortunate enough to fish
on a rough, rocky bottom, the net is usually torn
and sometimes lost.

The hauling of a trawl net is always of great
interest not only to fishermen but also to naturalists,
for the net always catches many different species of
fishes and other marine animals. Often representa-
tives of as many as twenty-five different species are
caught in a single haul. Sea-mice, sea-urchins, star-
fish, zoophytes, sponges, jellyfish, dead-men's-fingers
{Alcyonium) , sea-pens, heart-urchins, sea-cucum-
bers, nereids, sea-acorns, hermit-crabs, and cuttle-
fish are some of the curious forms of marine life
that are often found in the trawl. Small otter-trawls
are often used for catching flounders and shrimp.
Bag nets called paranzella nets, similar to the trawl
nets, are used on the Pacific coast for flounders and
soles.

Pound-nets, trap-nets, floating traps, and weirs
all operate on the same principle. An obstruction in
the form of a fence or net is placed across the
natural course of fish ; and the fish, in trying to swim
around it, are led into a pound or trap from which
they have great difficulty in escaping. Since there are
so many variations in the form and construction

AMERICA'S FISHERIES 167

of these traps, only three typical ones will be
mentioned.

Brush weirs are commonly employed in Maine for
catching herring. They are usually located either at
a point of land that extends out into the water for
some distance, or in channels where the tide is strong.
The trap is a large circular or heart-shaped in-
closure constructed by driving posts into the bottom,
with smaller stakes between them. Fine brush is then
interwoven horizontally between the stakes in order
to make a primitive sort of fence. A long fence or
"lead," constructed of brush in a similar way, ex-
tending from the shore to the mouth of the trap,
deflects the fish into the pound. In order to remove
the fish from the weir, a net is placed over the mouth
of the trap, and the fish are captured with a small
seine.

The pound-net is one of the most common forms of
gear used in the fisheries, being employed both in
fresh and salt water fishing. The usual type has a
long leader made of poles driven into the bottom
connected with coarse netting, which deflects the fish
into the first inclosure or heart. Once they have
entered the heart, the fish can only find their way
into the mouth of the crib in which they are cap-
tured. The bottom of the crib is covered with netting,
which may be raised when the fish are to be removed.

In deep water, or where the bottom is rocky so
that piles cannot be driven, floating traps are used.
The framework is made of small logs, bolted and
braced together in one solid frame and is of the same
general design as the ordinary pound-net. The net-

168 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ting is attached to pipes which pass through the
logs and down into the water for about thirty feet.
The leader is also constructed of logs bolted to-
gether with webbing fastened to suspended pipes.

Pound-nets are used for catching river herring,
whiting, herring, shad, squeteague, and many other
kinds of fish. Floating traps are operated chiefly in
the salmon fisheries of the Pacific coast.

The gill-net is a relatively inexpensive form of
gear which is popular with fishermen possessing little
capital. These nets are made of very fine, strong
thread which is invisible in the water. Their mesh is
of such a size that it permits the passage of the head
of the fish but not the body. In trying to swim
through the net, the fish become entangled in the
nets, either by the gills or by the fins, and are thus
rendered as helpless as a fly caught in a spider's web.
These nets are usually placed across a channel or
other place where fish are passing. In some fisheries
they are anchored or staked; in others they are
allowed to drift with the tide or current. In fishing
with this type of net, the fisherman rows along it,
raising the net to the surface as he goes, removes
any fish that it may hold, and then drops it into the
water again.

Gill-nets are commonly used for the capture of
shad, salmon, mackerel, herring, mullet, and several
other fishes.

Seines are long nets with the upper edge kept
afloat by means of corks or floats of some other ma-
terial, and with the lower edge weighted down by

AMERICA'S FISHERIES i69

sinkers which keep the netting distended. Seines are
of two kinds; viz., haul or beach seines which are
employed close to shore in relatively shallow water,
and purse-seines which are used to surround schools
of fish in deep water.

When using a haul-seine, the fishermen lay out
the net either parallel to shore or in a semicircle
with each end on shore, and then rapidly pull the
ends up on the shore, thus hauling the net and its
catch upon the beach. These seines vary in size from
the small minnow seines used in catching bait to
nets two thousand yards or more in length.
Especially long seines are used in the Columbia
River salmon fisheries and in the river herring and
shad fisheries of the Chesapeake Bay and North
Carolina. Mullet and squeteague are also caught in
this type of seine.

The purse-seine, as its name implies, is a net
which may be drawn together at the bottom with a
line, just as an old-fashioned purse is closed with a
cord. This type of seine is used chiefly in the mack-
erel and menhaden fisheries. In fishing with this seine
a school of fish is surrounded with the net, and then
the seine is rapidly "pursed." When the catch has
been draw^n into a small section of the net, the
fishing-vessel comes alongside, and the fish are re-
moved by means of a bailing-net hung from a boom.

The Fish Business

Commercial fishing is a business and not a sport.
Although the fishermen use very effective means of
taking fish, they usually work long hours and in most

170 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

cases receive relatively little for their efforts. The
men who catch the fish do not get much for them;
usually, in fact, they do not receive more than a
small fraction of the price the fish bring at retail.
Neither do the retailers get rich, for fish is a perish-
able commodity and must be packed in ice and
shipped by express. If the market is poor, the fish
must be sold nevertheless, even though their sale en-
tails a loss. Express rates are high because fish must
be handled expeditiously and re-iced, often. When
one considers the great distances which the fish must
be transported by water and by rail, it seems remark-
able that fresh marine fish in excellent condition may
be purchased in every city in the United States. And
even more remarkable is the fact that in most places
their cost is no more than that of meat. In many
cities, even as far as three hundred miles from the
coast, fish caught one day are eaten the following
day. Few persons ever consider the systematic effort
necessary to place fresh ocean fish upon the tables
of the inhabitants of inland cities. If the diner in a
restaurant orders halibut, it must have been brought
from either the Alaskan banks or those of the NortK
Atlantic. If he orders salmon, it must have come
from the Pacific coast. The order of red snapper
must have been brought from the Gulf of Mexico.
When these facts are taken into account, it is really
amazing that a fish dinner costs less than a steak
dinner.

CHAPTER X

The Value of Fish and Shell-Fish as Food

FISH, mollusks, and crustaceans have consti-
tuted an important article in the food of man
since remote antiquity. In prehistoric days,
when agriculture was practised but little, sea-foods
were relatively more important than they are to-day.
But even now no dinner is entirely complete without
fish or shell-fish in some form. The cookery of fish
and other sea-foods is an art about which many
books have been written. There are many, many ways
of cooking every fish and shell-fish. Cooks of each
nationality prepare sea-food for the table in their
own distinctive ways.

Some sea-foods^uch as cod, herring, halibut,
flounder, and salmon, are staple articles of the diet
of many^ classes" of people in several countries,
whereas others are considered'as delicacies by con-
noisseurs of fine foods. Lobsters, craBs, anchovies,
tuna, caviar, green turtles, terrapin, shrimp, and
scallops fall in the latter class. As oysters and clams
get scarcer, they are coming to be considered
luxuries.

Because of the abstinence of Catholics from eat-
ing meat on Friday, this day has come to be a fish
day in nearly all civilized countries. This has worked

171

172 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

a hardship on the fishing industry, for it has created
an abnormal demand for sea-food on Friday with
only a slight call for these products on other days.

In Japan, Norway, Scotland, Newfoundland, and
many other countries, sea-foods are more important
factors in the diet than in this country. The quantity
of fish and shell-fish consumed in Japan is especially
great; this may not be entirely a matter of choice,
however, as relatively little meat is produced in that
country. The Scotch, Dutch, Germans, and Scan-
dinavians eat enormous quantities of salted and
smoked fish, especially herring. The Portuguese and
Spanish peoples of Europe and America consume
much salted cod, haddock, cusk, and pollack ; in fact,
in many West Indian and South American cities,
salted cod is the only fish available on the markets.

It is not my purpose to consider the preparation
of fish for the table or to discuss the kinds of sea-
foods eaten by peoples of various nationalities, but
rather to deal with the food value of the common fish
and shell-fish. Many persons have never considered
the nutritive value of fish but eat them merely be-
cause the eating of fish on Fridays is a long-
established custom. Therefore it may be worth while
to see what part sea-foods play in our nutrition.

Composition of Fish

Fish contain large amounts of protein, varying
amounts of fat and fat-soluble vitamines, and much
mineral matter. Fish resemble meats in being de-
ficient in carbohydrates, but oysters, clams, and
other mollusks contain a considerable amount of

FISH AND SHELL-FISH AS FOOD 173

glycogen, or animal starch. Some of this carbohy-
drate is also found in crabs, lobsters, and other
crustaceans.

Fish differ greatly in their fat content. Not only
does the average fat content of the various species
of fish vary widely, but there is a definite seasonal
variation in many species, and even the individual
fish of a school caught at the same time contain
different percentages of fat. Certain species of fish,
however, are always lean, whereas others always
contain much fat. Still others of medium fatness
usually contain four or five per cent of fat when
fresh. The more common fatty fishes are the mack-
erel, Spanish mackerel, herring, sardine, salmon,
butter-fish, alewife, eel, and shad, while the more
common lean sea fishes are the cod, cusk, haddock,
pollack, hake, flounder, grouper, sea-bass, red snap-
per, and tomcod.

Curiously the protein content of various fishes is
nearly constant, for as the fat content of a fish
increases its moisture content decreases. Thus the
consumer gets more food for his money by buying
fatty fish, in preference to lean ones at the same
price.

In general, the composition of fish is approxi-
mately the same as that of meat; both are high in
protein and have a variable fat content. The com-
position of fatty fish may be compared to that of
the fatter cuts of pork, and the composition of lean
fish resembles that of beefsteak. In many cities pro-
tein may be purchased for less money in the form of
fish than as meat.

174 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

The value of a given substance as food depends
not only upon the nature of its digestion products
but also on the ease with which it is digested.
Leather contains much protein, yet its nutritive
value is negligible because it is indigestible. Before
we can evaluate the fats and proteins of fish we
must consider their digestibility. Contrary to what
many persons believe, scientists have found that both
the fat and protein of fresh and canned fish are as
easily and completely digested as the fats and pro-
teins of meat.

Dr. Holmes, of the U. S. Department of Agri-
culture, studied the digestibility of the fat and pro-
tein of mackerel, grayfish, butter-fish, and salmon,
and reported that they were easily and completely
digested. Dr. Holmes concluded: "the very com-
plete utilization of the proteins and fat supplied by
the fishes studied offers additional experimental
evidence that fish is a very valuable food and that its
extensive use in the dietary is especially desirable."

Nutritive Value of Fish

Since the chief food constituent of fish is protein,
it is interesting to examine these proteins to see
whether or not upon digestion they furnish all of
the amino-acids needed for the building up of the
complex protoplasmic structure we call our body.
Perhaps, before going further, it would be well to
indicate the nature of amino-acids, the wonderful
compounds of which our muscles and many of our
other tissues are constructed. These acids are inert,
colorless solids which contain nitrogen, being very

FISH AND SHELL-FISH AS FOOD 175

unlike the familiar strong mineral acids that "eat"
metal. Since all proteins are composed of various
combinations of these essential amino-acids, animal
life cannot exist without an ample supply of all of
them. Seventeen of the eighteen common amino-acids
are found in fish proteins. Only one, the simplest
of the amino-acids and one that can be synthesized
by the human body, is not found in the digestion
products of fish. All of the amino-acids needed for
the construction and repair of our bodies occur in
ample proportions. Curiously the composition of fish
proteins resembles that of chicken muscle. This fact
is especially important when we consider the high
nutritive value ordinarily assigned to chicken meat.
Fish is an excellent food to supplement a vege-
table diet, as it furnishes the amino-acids lacking in
cereal proteins. The ability of the Japanese to sub-
sist on a vegetarian diet supplemented by fish is
attributable to the fat-soluble vitamines found in
the fish fats and to certain amino-acids obtained
from fish proteins.

Recently the inorganic constituents of fish and
other sea-foods have been recognized as having con-
siderable nutritive value. Calcium, phosphorus,
magnesium, sodium, chlorine, iodine, potassium, and
sulphur are found in all fish. These elements are all
required for human nutrition, but all except three
of them occur in sufiicient quantities in most foods.
Many foods, however, are deficient in phosphorus,
calcium, and iodine.

Canned fish is an especially valuable source of

176 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

calcium and phosphorus, for the bones are usually
eaten as well as the flesh. Fish bones consist largely
of calcium phosphate, which is needed by the human
body for the growth and repair of bones and teeth.
It is therefore fortunate that many persons prefer
canned salmon and tuna to fresh fish, probably be-
cause they are well cooked, and the bones do not
cause any bother. Pressure cookers should be used
for cooking bony fish. When a fish containing many
fine bones, as the shad, is cooked with steam under a
few pounds pressure, the bones become almost as soft
as the flesh, and are then quite edible. This eliminates
the tedious and disagreeable operation of picking out
the bones, and thus not only adds to the pleasure
of eating fish, but also increases their nutritive
value.

The old idea that fish is a "brain food" probably
has little foundation, but perhaps fish roe may have
that distinction. For the roe contains certain or-
ganic phosphorus compounds also found in the hu-
man brain, which are called phospholipins because
they resemble fats chemically. It is likely that the
human body utilizes these unusual compounds for
building up the gray matter in which so many per-
sons are deficient.

Recently a lack of iodine in food and drinking*
water has been recognized ,as one of the principal
causes of endemic goiter, cretinism, and other dis-
eases of the thyroid gland. The active principle of
the thyroid gland, thyroxin, is an iodine compound.
If our food does not contain sufficient iodine to

FISH AND SHELL-FISH AS FOOD 177

enable the thyroid gland to make the normal amount
of thyroxin, we become diseased.

Goiter and other diseases of the thyroid are much
more prevalent than most persons realize. Few per-
sons in Pittsburgh considered goiter to be of common
occurrence until the school-children were given a
careful medical examination. The data obtained in-
dicated that 42 per cent of the children had en-
larged thyroid glands, commonly known as goiters.

Dr. Hall examined 3339 students, of the Univer-
sity of Washington, at Seattle, Washington, and
found that 18 per cent of the men and 31 per cent
of the women had goiter. In Wexford and Houghton
counties, Michigan, more than 50 per cent of the
school-children have goiter. In Ontario and Michi-
gan, goiter occurs not only in human beings but
also in animals, especially dogs and sKeep.

Goiter is most common in the Great Lakes and St.
Lawrence River basins and in the northwest Pacific
region, where the drinking-water contains little
iodine. It has been found that the prevalence of
goiter is roughly inversely proportional to the iodine
content of the drinking-water and food. Most com-
mon foods such as meat, bread, milk, and most fruits
contain very little iodine. It would take several tons
of meat or flour to furnish the human body with the
amount of iodine found in a normal thyroid gland.

Perhaps the reader is asking what this has to do
with the nutritive value of fish. Foods containing
iodine have been of great help in preventing and
controlling goiter. Fish and other sea-foods have
been shown to be unusually high in iodine. Recently

178 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

a large number of sea-foods were analyzed for their
iodine content, using a novel method of analysis by
which it was possible to measure accurately the
iodine content of foods even when this element was
present in amounts as small as one millionth of one
per cent. Oysters, clams, and lobster were found to
be unusually high in iodine, containing approxi-
mately two hundred times as much as beefsteak.
Shrimp contain about half this amount, and crabs
somewhat less. Marine fishes are also high in iodine,
containing fifty times as much as milk or beefsteak.
Fresh-water fish contain much less iodine, the
amounts found being about the same as in meat.
These results indicate the value of marine fish, mol-
lusks, and crustaceans in the diet of the inhabitants
of regions where goiter is common. It is likely that
the reason for the freedom of the Japanese from
goiter is the large per capita consumption of fish
and other sea-foods.

Cod-liver oil was the first fishery product to gain
recognition as especially valuable in nutrition. For
more than a hundred years the therapeutic value of
this oil in the treatment of certain diseases has been
known to the medical profession, but only for the
past fifteen years has it been known that its value
lies in its high fat-soluble vitamine content. Butter
is one of the most potent common sources of the fat-
soluble vitamines, yet samples of cod-liver oil have
been found which have two hundred times as high
a vitamine content as butter. Because of its fat-
soluble vitamines, cod-liver oil is highly effective for

FISH AND SHELL-FISH AS FOOD 179

curing certain diseases of the eyes, especially
xerophthalmia, and for the prevention and cure of
rickets. The prevalence of rickets among city chil-
dren is not generally realized. Most of the children
of the poor in the great cities have rickets at some
time or other.

Although fatty fish have not nearly so high a fat-
soluble vitamine content as cod-liver oil and other
fish-liver oils, they contain much larger amounts of
these vitamines than most other foods. The impor-
tance of the vitamine content of fatty fish can hardly
be overestimated; for in many countries where dairy
products are scarce, as in Alaska, Labrador, and
Iceland, all of the common foods are deficient in the
vitamine which cures rickets, with the exception of
herring, mackerel, and other fatty fish. Doubtless
its presence in fish fat prevents the outbreak of
rickets and other diseases directly or indirectly
caused by a deficiency of fat-soluble vitamines.

Dr. E. V. McCollum, in his consideration of
"Vitamines in Fish and Shell-Fish," ^ makes the
following statement regarding the efficacy of a fish
diet in the prevention of rickets: "Even in those
parts of the world where the climatic and hygienic
conditions are such as to favor the development of
bone defects, these are rare among children where
fish forms a prominent article of diet. The adminis-
tration of cod-liver oil is an effective substitute for
the eating of fish for this specific purpose."

All fats and oils from fish or other marine animals
have been found to be rich in the fat-soluble vita-
"U. S. Bureau of Fisheries Document 1000 (1926).

180 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

mine A, which prevents certain eye diseases and aids
in growth. For centuries it has been the custom in
Japan to give eel fat to children suffering from a
disease known as hikan, which has recently been
found to be caused by a lack of vitamine A.

Shell-fish, such as oysters, clams, and lobsters are
of great dietary importance. Oysters contain both
the water-soluble vitamines B and C. When eaten
raw, oysters and clams are especially valuable foods,
for they furnish the water-soluble vitamine C, ordi-
narily obtained only from fresh raw fruits and
vegetables.

The Place of Sea-Foods in the Diet

The nutritive value of fish and other sea-foods has
already been discussed in detail. It remains, how-
ever, to consider specifically their place in the
dietary.

A monotonous diet is dangerous, for if a person
always eats the same proteinaceous, fatty, and vege-
table foods, his diet is likely to be deficient in some
essential amino-acid, mineral constituent, or vita-
mine. A diet lacking in any one essential nutritive
factor is a failure ; any one taking it will suffer from
some form of malnutrition. The deficiency disease
may take a great variety of forms. Its symptoms
are legion, and may appear to be trifling, as for
example, nervousness, bad teeth, headaches, and
flat feet.

No one should ever continue to eat day after day
exactly the same foods for breakfast, lunch, or din-
ner. Any satisfactory diet must be varied, and must

FISH AND SHELL-FISH AS FOOD 181

contain a variety of proteinaceous foods, such as
meats, eggs, and fish, many fruits and vegetables,
and several starchy and fatty foods. Each meal
should consist of (1) a dish high in protein, such as
meat, eggs, fish, or some other sea-food, milk, or
beans or other leguminous vegetable, which will
furnish a variety of amino-acids required for the
construction and repair of tissue; (2) potatoes,
cereals, or other starchy foods, to furnish fuel and
energy for the body; (3) fat, such as butter or fish
fat, to supply fuel, energy, and fat-soluble vita-
mines; (4) fruits and vegetables to furnish the
water-soluble vitamines, inorganic constituents, and
roughage essential for the proper digestion and
assimilation of the food.

At least once a week fish or some other sea-food
should be cooked as the main dish of a meal. The
occasional substitution of fish for meat furnishes a
greater variety of amino-acids, increases the amount
of iodine in the food, and, if fatty fish are chosen,
increases the supply of fat-soluble vitamines. Fish
roe is an excellent substitute for eggs, as it is high
in phospholipins and is a very potent source of the
fat-soluble vitamine. Canned fish contain calcium
phosphate, which is used so extensively in the con-
struction and repair of bones and teeth, and should
be supplied freely during growth and pregnancy.

From the foregoing discussion it should be evident
that sea-foods are easily digested proteinaceous foods
resembling meats in composition and in addition con-
tain much higher amounts of fat-soluble vitamines,
iodine, and other valuable inorganic substances.

CHAPTER XI

The Preservation of Fish

NO one knows when man first learned to pre-
serve his surplus of fish on the day of plenty
for his future needs, for the earliest records
indicate that he was already versed in the arts of
preserving food by freezing, drying, smoking, and
salting. The prehistoric savage used crude methods
such as the smoking and drying of small fish strung
on sticks over an open fire. Some of these simple
methods are still in use to-day, the only changes
being adaptations which permit the preservation of
large quantities of fish with a minimum of labor.

The only method of preserving fish which has been
invented during the past century is that of canning.
This art, that of the preservation of a food product,
sterilized by heat, in a hermetically sealed container,
is a modern invention discovered in 1810 by Nickolas
Appert. His researches, which lasted fifteen years,
were encouraged by the French government, which
offered a reward for the discovery of an improved
method of preserving foods. This prize was offered
in the hope of finding a method of preservation
which would reduce the loss of foods through spoil-
age in military and naval stores.

Canning is the most important method of preser-
vation of fish employed in the United States, but

182

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 183

salting is far more important in most other parts
of the world. The smoking of fish is relatively un-
important in America, whereas in Scotland and Ger-
many immense quantities are smoked. The freezing
and cold storage of fish is practised more extensively
in the United States than in any other country in the
world. Nearly a hundred million pounds of fish are
frozen in this country each year.

Freezing and Cold Storage of Fish

While it has been known for many centuries that
freezing and cold storage will preserve fish, it has
been only since the invention of mechanical processes
of refrigeration that the cold storage of fish has
become of commercial importance. Prior to that time,
fisherfolk living in cold climates froze any surplus
catch and kept the frozen fish in unheated rooms
until needed. Now cold storage and refrigeration of
fish is employed in all civilized countries, as refrig-
eration serves to take fresh fish from the class of
extreme perishables, and enables the fish dealer to
supply all sorts of fishes throughout the year. It
reduces the cost of fresh fish to the consumer and
increases the value of the fisherman's catch, as it
greatly reduces the waste because of spoilage.

Fish are frozen principally in the summer and
autumn and are held in cold storage until winter and
spring, but there is some freezing every month in
the year. Salmon, cisco, herring, mackerel, whiting,
halibut, scup, lake-trout, whitefish, cod, haddock,
and pollack are the chief species frozen.

Unfortunately, in the early days of the industry,

184 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

fish unfit for sale were frozen and stored until there
was a greater demand for the product. Naturally
when thawed these fish were in no better condition
than when frozen. Because of such practices people
came to believe that the freezing of fish injured
them. In this way cold-storage fish acquired a bad
reputation which it will take many years to live
down. This prejudice has no foundation in fact.
The freezing under proper conditions of freshly
caught fish does not injure them in the slightest.
Properly frozen fish, when stored under carefully
controlled conditions, remain in excellent condition
for a year or longer. In fact not one person in a
thousand can distinguish between freshly caught
fish and frozen fish after both have been cooked.

Refrigeration and cold storage of fish involve
more than the freezing and storage of fish at low
temperatures. The fish must be carefully handled
before freezing, for bruises cause deterioration dur-
ing storage. They must be quickly frozen; usually
this is accomplished by placing them in extremely
cold rooms, although in some of the more modern
processes the fish are frozen by immersion in very
cold brine. Brine freezing possesses several advan-
tages over air freezing, for the fish freeze much more
rapidly, and therefore fewer changes take place in
the tissue of the fish.

Frozen fish must be glazed, or covered with a thin
layer of ice, if they are to keep well during storage.
Glazing is usually accomplished by dipping the very
cold fish into fresh water. The water in immediate
contact with the fish- freezes, covering the fish with a

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 185

glassy layer of ice. The ice glaze brightens the color
of the fish and prevents them from drying out. It
also prevents discoloration of fatty fish by the phe-
nomenon known as rusting, which is caused by the
fat becoming rancid.

During storage, fish must be kept at a very low
temperature to preserve them in perfect condition.
Further, since the glaze evaporates, they must be
reglazed from time to time.

There is much disagreement as to the best method
of defrosting frozen fish. Some authorities recom-
mend slow thawing in a refrigerator or in ice-cold
water. Others do not trouble to defrost the fish, but
cook them without thawing. In America cold-storage
fish are usually defrosted before being sold to the
consumers.

The Salting of Fish

What industry brings to mind more of the quaint-
ness and romance of the ancient European fishing
ports than the business of salting fish.^ Modern in-
dustrial methods have come into use in almost every
other industry, but still the herring and cod salters
handle the fish entirely by hand.

The salmon canner has invented machines which
clean the fish automatically, but these appliances
have never been adopted for use in eviscerating cod
and haddock. The methods of handling and salting
fish have not changed for several centuries. The
connoisseur of cured fish has become accustomed to
certain distinctive flavors and demands them. The
introduction of modern scientific methods into the

186 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

salting of fish would produce salted fish which when
freshened would not differ greatly from fresh fish,
yet at present there is no great demand for such
improvements.

In Europe salting is still the most important
method of preserving fish. The ports of Grimsby,
Lowestoft, Yarmouth, Hull, Ramsgate, Scarbor-
ough, and Whitby in England; Lerwick, Aberdeen,
Leith, Buckie, Peterhead, Frazerburgh, and Wick
in Scotland; and Ijmuiden in Holland; Stavanger,
Bergen, Aalesund, Kristiansund, and Tromso in
Norway ; and Geestemiinde, Nordenbram, Auzhaven,
and Altona in Germany are all important fish-salt-
ing centers.

The salting of fish is on the decline in America.
Quaint old Gloucester, which was formerly the lead-
ing American fishing port, still retains its prestige
as the great fish-salting center, but even there some
of the fish salters have learned to can their fish.
Other centers, such as Portland, Boothbay Harbor,
and Eastport, Maine; Havre de Grace, Maryland;
Reedville, Virginia; Edenton, North Carolina; and
a few places further south still retain some activity
in the fish-salting industry, but the business is also
shrinking. Recently, on the other hand, the salting
of herring has become one of the important Alaskan
fishery industries. Many salmon are also salted on
the Pacific coast, where the industry is operated in
conjunction with the salmon-smoking business.

The preservation of fish by salting is no more dif-
ficult than the curing of hams or the drying of beef,
and can be used by any housewife to preserve a sur-

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 187

plus of fish. Generally speaking there are but two
methods of salting. According to the more common
procedure, the cleaned fish are packed in barrels in
layers between thin layers of salt. The salt ex-
tracts sufficient water from the fish to form a brine
or pickle, and the salt passes into the fish. If suf-
ficient salt has been added, the fish are dried out
enough to keep them for a year or more if stored in
a cool room. When no more pickle is formed, that
which formed during the salting operation is usually
removed, and fresh brine made from clean salt is
added. The other general method of salting fish is
by placing the fish in a large vat, covering them with
brine, and then placing a surplus of salt on the fish.
When thoroughly salted, or struck, the fish are
packed in barrels with either dry salt or fresh brine.

More herring are salted than any other fish. In
Scotland alone about ^\e hundred thousand barrels
are preserved by salting. Large quantities of her-
ring are also salted in England, Ireland, Holland,
Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, the United
States, Canada, and Newfoundland. The Scotch,
Norwegian, and Dutch-cured herring are the best
known, and most of those salted in America are
packed according to one of these three processes.

Scotch-cured herring possess a distinctive flavor
desired by certain connoisseurs of cured fish. The
fish are not washed after the removal of the gills and
the stomach; thus the salted fish contain all of the
blood. Since the fish are packed in the original pickle,
they retain a peculiar flavor caused by the preserved
blood. Because this flavor of salted herring has be-

188 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

come very popular in America, the Scotch cure has
been introduced in Alaska, and nearly all of the her-
ring cured in that territory are packed according to
this process.

As a result of the ease with which fresh fish can
be obtained, the consumption of salted cod in Amer-
ica has greatly decreased during recent years, but in
southern Europe and Latin America it is still very
popular. It may be purchased in all of the small in-
terior towns of semi-tropical Europe and Amer-
ica, and in many instances is the only fish offered for
sale.

In the United States, where canned salmon and
other canned fish are cheap, the Salter of cod and
other ground-fish, such as haddock, hake, and pol-
lack, has been forced to improve the quality of his
product or quit business. This improvement has been
effected by the more careful selection of the fish to
be salted and by less drying of the salted fish.

Visiting Gloucester, Massachusetts, and seeing this
ancient industry operating to-day on a big scale,
carries one back two centuries or more. Most of the
cod are still caught from dories on hand-lines or
trawl-lines. The fishermen sail to the banks in
schooners which resemble those used a century ago,
except that they are now equipped with auxiliary
gasoline engines. Once on the fishing grounds, the
fishermen leave the schooners and fish from their
dories. Most of the catches are eviscerated, iced, and
placed in the hold of the schooner. But when the
schooners are to be away from the home port for a
long time, the fish are split and lightly salted and

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 189

then piled either in the hold or on the deck. Upon
arrival in port, the fish are hoisted out of the hold in
large baskets. After the weight has been taken, the
heads are cut off, and the fish are thoroughly cleaned,
washed, and placed in layers in large casks called
butts. Salt is sprinkled over each layer of fish, and
a pile of salt is placed on top. The salters prefer sea
salt from Turk's Island or Spain to domestic salt for
curing the fish.

Much of the work of salting the cod is done by
fishermen who are too old to endure the hardships
of the long perilous trips to the banks. You need
never hesitate in addressing one of these old heroes
of many a terrific storm; call him captain, and you
will seldom miss your guess. Even if he never went
to sea he will smile, for in Gloucester the .sea-captains
come first in the public opinion.

After the cod have remained in their own pickle
in the butts until they are thoroughly salted, they
are removed and stacked in large piles, where the
pickle drains and is pressed out of them. Curiously
this operation is called water-horsing. When no more
pickle runs from the fish they are spread out on the
flakes to dry. This is one of the most picturesque fea-
tures of the industry, as the flakes usually are built
on the roofs of the buildings, where the drying fish
are visible for miles around. A flake is a rack or lat-
tice bed, three to five feet wide, constructed of tri-
angular wooden strips about an inch wide, nailed
about three inches apart to a substantial framework
built about thirty inches above the roof or floor.

The salted cod must be carefully watched if a

190 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

good quality of dried fish is to be produced. They
must not be permitted to be wet by rain or dew, nor
must bright sunlight strike them, for the direct rays
of the sun cause the fish to become yellow or sun-
burned. Each evening, and whenever a rain-storm
is imminent, the fish are collected, placed in piles,
and covered with small rectangular boxes with
peaked roofs called flake-boxes. While on the flakes,
the fish become lighter in color and dry out so that
they will keep when packed dry in boxes if stored in
a cool place. The length of time required for the dry-
ing and bleaching process depends chiefly upon the
weather and the amount of drying and bleaching de-
sired. If the fish are to be sold in the Southern States
they must be dried more than if they are to be
marketed in cooler climates. When sufficiently dry,
the fish are carted to a storehouse where they are
kenched (stacked like fire- wood) until required for
market, or until they are skinned and boned.

The better grade of salt cod is prepared for
market by removing the skin and bones and cutting
into strips. The salted fish are carefully sorted as to
quality and size before being carted to the skinning
loft. First quality cod are thick, uniformly white,
have no blood-stains, and possess a sweet odor. Con-
siderable skill is required in the preparation of
boneless cod. First, the dorsal and ventral fins are
removed. Then the skin is pulled loose at the napes
andTin toward the middle of the back and then toward
the tail, care being taken not to tear the flesh. After
the tail has been cut off, the large nape bones are re-
moved with a bone-hooker, and the remaining portion

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 191

of the backbone cut out. The fish are then passed on
to other workers, who remove the larger bones one at
a time with small pliers.

After the yellow and stained portions of the fish
have been cut away, the fish are cut into strips. Since
the large, thick "middles" or "steaks" command the
highest prices, the cod are cut so as to obtain as much
of this meat as possible, which is packed either in
^ye or ten pound boxes. The smaller pieces are
packed in one and two pound boxes. The white
trimmings are made into "fibered codfish" or "fluff"
and then packed either in cartons with parcliment
paper lining or in glass jars. "Not a bone" salted cod
contains less bones than the "boneless" grade and
consequently commands a higher price. "Hard dried"
cod prepared especially for export is packed either
in large boxes or drums. That which is shipped in
drums is tightly compressed in hydraulic presses.
Nothing is wasted, for the skins, bones, and yellow
trimmings from the salted fish are sold to the glue
manufacturer for use in the making of liquid glue.

Such is a brief picture of the ancient salt cod
industry, which is slowly passing out in America,
mainly because the taste in preserved fish has
changed to canned fish. Two of the leading fish-salt-
ing establishments in New England have read the
handwriting on the wall and now operate canneries
in conjunction with their factories.

Haddock, cusk, pollack, and hake are salted along
with cod in the same establishments according to the
same methods. Recently, since the general introduc-
tion of steam trawlers, which catch principally had-

192 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

dock, feeding near the sea bottom, this fish has
become very plentiful, with the result that many more
are now salted than formerly. The average annual
catch of the mackerel has diminished greatly during
the past decade, whereas the price has steadily in-
creased. For these reasons a much smaller quantity
is now salted. The salting of alewives or river herring
is still an important industry in Boothbay Harbor,
Maine, Havre de Grace, Maryland, Reedville, Vir-
ginia, and Edenton, North Carolina. Many mullet
are salted along our South Atlantic coast. Formerly
many shad were salted, but this fish is now so valuable
that few are preserved in this manner.

The three important fish-salting industries of the
Pacific coast deal with herring, salmon, and cod.
Salmon salting is carried on mainly in conjunction
with the salmon-smoking industry. Most of the salted
salmon are shipped either to New York or Germany,
where they are freshened and smoked. Salmon salted
primarily for smoking are called mild cured.

, The Smoking of Fish

The methods employed in the present-day fish-
smoking industry are much the same as those which
were used thousands of years ago when savage man
smoked and dried his surplus fish over an open fire,
except that the process has been commercialized.
Now the fisherman seldom smokes his own fish, for
smoking is a business carried on on a large scale.
Smoke-houses holding as many as one hundred thou-
sand fish are sometimes employed for the smoking
of herring.

fcJL

C

c

c

;->

a.

<: 2

«

MODEL OF SALMON TRAP

Many tons of salmon are often taken in a single haul of a trap

of this type

FISH WHEEL ON COLUMBIA RIVER

The revolving wheel automatically scoops out the salmon which

enter the trap

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 193

The Scotch are very fond of smoked herring and
preserve an immense quantity of them. Kippered
herring are most in demand; approximately two
hundred thousand barrels of these are smoked each
year. Since there are about seven hundred herring
in a barrel, one hundred and forty million of these
kippered fish are consumed, or thirty herring for
each man, woman, and child in Scotland. England,
Holland, Germany, Norway, and Denmark are other
important herring-smoking centers.

The American smoked fish industry is relatively
unimportant when compared to the European indus-
try. The total annual production of smoked fish in
the United States is only about forty million pounds,
valued at about five million dollars. Smoked haddock,
the so-called finnan haddie, is very popular in the
United States. Smoked salmon, one of the most valu-
able smoked fish, is very popular in New York City,
and is prepared in large quantities. Maine leads the
States in fish smoking. About two and a half million
pounds of smoked herring valued at a quarter of a
million dollars is produced annually in that State.

The smoking of herring is one of the ancient indus-
tries for which the quaint old town of Eastport,
Maine, is noted. Most of the herring smoked in this
vicinity are caught in the Canadian waters of Pas-
samaquoddy Bay, the Bay of Fundy, and along the
border river, St. Croix; the remainder is caught in
weirs along the Maine shores. The smoking industry
is operated in conjunction with the sardine industry;
the herring which are too small for smoking are
canned as sardines.

194 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Herring are prepared by smoking in three dif-
ferent ways. The bulk of the herring is thoroughly
salted, and smoked until hard and dry ; the product
is termed red or hard herring. Much of the red
herring is boned, skinned, and packed in small pack-
ages. This grade is sold as boneless. Lightly smoked
herring are prepared in two ways. The heavily salted,
lightly smoked round herring prepared for immedi-
ate consumption are termed bloaters. Kippered
herring are usually prepared by splitting and evis-
cerating the fish before lightly salting and smoking
them. Some lightly salted and smoked herring are
canned in one-pound oval tin cans. After being ster-
ilized with heat, this product will keep indefinitely.

The first step in the smoking process is salting.
This is effected by placing the fish in pickling vats
partially filled with weak brine. Salt is also sprinkled
over each layer of herring. When the tank has been
filled with fish, three or four bushels of salt is piled
on top of the fish. Altogether from six to nine bushels
of salt is used on each vat of fish (about four hogs-
heads). The fresher the fish and the cooler the
weather, the less salt is required. Most of the salt
is placed on or near the top of the vat of fish, so that,
in working down, it will dissolve before it reaches
the bottom. If the fish are small they are removed
in twenty-four or thirty-six hours, whereas the larger
herring are kept in the brine for forty-eight hours or
slightly longer. In cool weather the fish are salted for
a longer period than in warm weather. The herring
are removed from the vats by means of dip nets or
wash nets in which they are washed by a brief immer-

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 195

sion in sea-water or dilute brine. After washing, they
are laid on the stringing tables, where they are
allowed to drain.

They are then strung on slender sticks by men,
women, girls, and boys who are very adept at this
work, some of them being able to string twenty-five
thousand herring a day. Holding the stick in his
right hand, the stringer raises the left gill cover of
the herring and inserts the pointed end of the stick
through the gill slit and then through the mouth,
at the same time shoving the fish to the opposite end
of the stick. The sticks, which are about three feet
four inches in length and three quarters of an inch
square, hold from twenty-five to thirty-five herring.
The average price paid for stringing is forty cents
per hundred sticks.

After stringing, the herring are again washed by
dipping in a trough of sea-water; then they are
hung on rectangular frames called herring horses,
which hold about forty-five sticks, or one barrel of
fish. When filled, the herring horses are carried out
into the open air, where the fish are partially dried.
This preliminary drying hardens the gill covers, thus
strengthening them, so that the herring do not fall
off the sticks in the smoke-houses.

When the herring have been sufficiently dried out-
doors, they are carried into the smoke-houses and
hung on scantlings, which are just far enough apart
so that either end of the sticks, on which the herring
are hung, rests on a scantling. The lower part of the
"bays," as the compartments of the smoke-house are
called, is filled first. After smoking for twelve or

196 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

fifteen hours, the fires are allowed to go down, and
the partially smoked herring, which have been placed
in the lower part of the smoke-house on the previous
day, are shifted to a place nearer the top of the
smoke-house. Another lot of fish is then placed in the
lower part of the smoke-house, and the preliminary
smoking is repeated. These operations are continued
from day to day until the smoke-house is entirely
filled with fish, after which the smoking fires are kept
burning for about three weeks or until the fish are
thoroughly cured.

The smoke-houses usually are ordinary frame
buildings having a single gable with ventilators at
the top. In addition to the ventilators, the houses
have many doors and windows which are opened when
especially good ventilation is required. Since the fires
are built on the ground, the smoke-houses have no
floors.

Hardwoods are used for 'the fires. White birch is
generally preferred, but almost any kind of hard-
wood may be used. In building the fires, small logs
from four to eight inches in diameter are arranged
in heaps a few feet from each other and about four
feet from the side of the building. Two or three logs
are placed together, with sufficient kindling to ignite
them. After the fires are burning well, large pieces of
water-logged or decayed timber are piled on the fire
to smother the flames and generate a dense smoke.

Usually the herring are not taken from the smoke-
houses until required for packing or boning. If the
fish are not packed soon after the s^moking is com-
pleted, great care must be taken to prevent their

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 197

spoiling. During fair weather the doors and windows
of the smoke-house are opened. If the weather is
damp the fires are kindled to prevent the absorption
of moisture by the herring.

The red herring are either sorted into grades ac-
cording to fatness and size and placed in wooden
boxes, or skinned and boned and sold as boneless
herring. Boneless herring are prepared in large
quantities in Eastport, Lubec, and other herring-
smoking centers of Maine. More than half of the
smoked herring are used in the production of this
grade of prepared fish, which commands a relatively
high price. The preparation of boneless herring is
carried out during the fall and winter, when there is
little else for the smokers to do. Boning and skinning
is also done by the farmers along the coast who do
the work for the smokers. Skinning bees are common
in Washington County, Maine, where the farmers
invite their neighbors to aid them in preparing
herring during the long winter evenings. The crowd
spend part of the evening in skinning and boning
the herring and the remainder in amusing themselves.

Much of the boneless herring is packed in wooden
boxes lined with paper, containing ten, twenty-five,
and fifty pounds each. Some smokers pack the fish
in small attractive glass jars and tins. Approxi-
mately three hundred po-unds of boneless herring
are obtained from each thousand pounds of whole
smoked fish. Formerly the refuse was sold to farmers
for fertilizer at a small price. In recent years much
of it has been rendered into oil and fertilizer, for
herring oil has been recognized as possessing con-

198 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

siderable value. Fertilizer prepared in this way is
of much greater value than the original waste, as
the oil is of negative value as a fertilizer.

Large whole herring which have been lightly
smoked and well salted are known as bloaters. In
the preparation of this grade of smoked herring,
the fish are placed in strong brine containing some
solid salt for two or three days. Then, after being
taken in dip-nets and washed in sea-water, they are
strung on sticks in the same manner as in the prepa-
ration of hard herring. When they have drained
sufficiently on herring horses, they are hung in the
lower part of the smoke-house where they are close
to the fire. Bloaters are smoked for at least three and
not more than seven days. Since this grade of fish is
prepared for immediate consumption and cannot be
stored for very long, the length of the smoking
period depends to a large extent upon the distance
of the market and the demands of the particular
trade to which it is sold. Bloaters are packed soon
after smoking, usually in paper-lined boxes each
holding one hundred fish, or about thirty-five pounds.

Recently kippered herring have come into favor
among connoisseurs of smoked fish. In Maine, the
fish intended for kippering are split down the back
from head to tail in the same way in which mackerel
are split, and then placed in strong brine for about
an hour. After draining and drying, they are hung
in the smoke-house for at least six and not more
than sixteen hours. The slightly smoked fish are
then packed in wooden boxes for immediate ship-
ment. Such a process will not preserve the fish for

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 199

more than two or three days at ordinary tempera-
tures; on this account kippered herring cannot be
transported long distances except in cold storage
unless they are canned.

About the middle of the eighteenth century
smoked haddock in Findon, Scotland, became very
popular. The smoked fish were known as Findon
haddocks; later this was abbreviated to Findon
haddies, and then to finnan baddies, by which name
smoked haddock is known to-day. The industry was
introduced into the United States about 1850, but
did not become of much importance until 1875. It
has grown until now about thirteen million pounds
of haddock are smoked each year in this country.
The industry is still of great importance in Scotland,
where nearly forty million pounds are prepared
annually.

Smoked salmon is considered a great delicacy by
most connoisseurs of smoked fish. Large quantities
of mild cured (lightly salted) salmon are exported
from the United States to Germany, where they are
smoked. Formerly much halibut was preserved by
smoking, but the fishery has been unable to keep
up with the demand for fresh fish. For this reason
the fish has become so expensive that relatively few
are now smoked. Other fish smoked in limited quan-
tities include cod, ling, saith, whiting, catfish, mack-
erel, eel, sturgeon, shad, flounder, butter-fish, boni-
to, tuna, whitefish, and trepang (sea-cucumber). The
Norwegians prepare an unusual delicacy by smoking
cod roe.

200 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Fish Preservation by Drying

Fish drying, like fish smoking, is a very ancient
industry, having been discovered by wild tribes in
the tropics who found that their surplus of fish
could be cured in the sun either with or without
salting. Because of the hot climate and the abund-
ance of food that may be had in the tropics for the
gathering, the natives are not inventive and seldom
take the trouble to improve their methods of prep-
aration of food. In cold climates, on the other hand,
where fresh foods can be obtained in certain seasons
only with great difficulty, the inhabitants have been
forced to study food preservation. Thus it has come
about that although few fish are dried in temperate
zones, all the improvements in the processes of dehy-
dration have been invented by the people of these
regions. Dried fish prepared by the ancient processes
employed in the tropical climates are not especially
palatable. On this account there is much prejudice
against dried fish. For this reason, the recent im-
proved processes of dehydrating fish have not gained
much headway in the United States.

Since dehydrated fish weighs only about a tenth
of the original weight of the fresh fish, it is eco-
nomically transported in this form. For this reason,
during the World War, when the transportation
system of the country was overtaxed, comprehen-
sive researches were carried out to determine methods
of preparing dehydrated fish which when rehydrated
would be as palatable as salted or smoked fish. The
methods which were invented produced a palatable

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 201

product, but the quality of the product deteriorated
in storage. Improved methods of storage will have
to be devised before the novel processes of dehydra-
tion will come into general use.

Much fish is dried in Scandinavian countries ; some
is dehydrated by the modern processes in Germany ;
and in the warmer Oriental countries, particularly
in India, China, Japan, and the Philippine Islands,
dried fish is one of the staple articles of diet of all
classes of people.

In Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa immense quantities
of fish are dried on mats placed in the sun just as
they were thousands of years ago. These Orientals
store their dried fish according to methods peculiar
to that region. Some are packed into large earthen-
ware jars smeared with fish oil inside and are then
buried in a shallow trench in a shady place. A large
proportion of the fish is not packed in jars but buried
in the ground. The dried fish are placed in shallow
trenches about two feet deep, lined with mats and
straw, and covered with straw and then with matting.
When the trenches are filled, the earth is thrown
over the fish. Fish stored in this way is supposed
to keep for a year or more, but it soon acquires a
brownish red color, together with an odor and taste
which are not relished by persons who have not
acquired a liking for it.

In contrast to this crude process is that which is
used to a limited extent in Germany. According to
this method, the cleaned, pressed fish are hung on
lath racks built on trucks, which are run into dehy-
dration chambers, through which warm, dry air

202 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

mixed with ozone is blown by powerful fans. The
ozone partially sterilizes the fish and thus increases
their keeping qualities.

Fish Canning

Although canning is a relatively modern means
of preserving fish, it is already the most important
method employed in America, and is gaining in im-
portance in several other countries. Canned salmon
is by far the most important American fishery prod-
uct, the annual pack being valued at about fifty
million dollars. American sardines are not known the
world over as is salmon, yet the canneries receive
about thirteen million dollars for their annual pro-
duction. Much tuna and shrimp and large quantities
of crabs, clams, and oysters are also canned in the
United States.

Sardines, mackerel, anchovies, herring, tuna, and
certain fish roes are canned in various ways in sev-
eral European countries, while salmon and swordfish
are canned in Japan and along the Asiatic coast.
Much salmon is also canned along the Canadian
Pacific coast.

Recently fish canning has gained a foothold in
Portland, Maine, and in Gloucester, Massachusetts,
two of the leading fish salting and smoking centers.
Many kinds of prepared cod and haddock products
are now canned, and canned alewives and shad are
increasing in popularity.

No consideration of fish canning would be com-
plete without a consideration of the salmon-canning

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 203

industry, for this is one of the world's leading fishery
industries, although it is only about sixty years
old.

Salmon are taken commercially along the Pacific
coast of North America from the Sacramento River
northward and along the Asiatic coast of the North
Pacific, but Alaska is now by far the greatest pro-
ducer of salmon. At the time of the purchase of
Alaska, the fur-seals of the Pribilof Islands were con-
sidered to be Alaska's greatest resource. No one fore-
saw the extensive development of Alaska's salmon
fisheries. The growth of the canning industry has
been especially rapid. The first salmon were canned
in Alaska in 1878, when eight thousand cases were
thus preserved. From that small beginning the in-
dustry has grown until now the pack averages five
million cases.

The Pacific salmon are fish of a different sort
from the Atlantic salmon, being of the genus Onco-
rhyncus, w^hereas the Atlantic salmon belongs to the
genus Solmo. Five different species of Pacific salmon
are found in Alaskan w^aters. The chinook, king, or
spring salmon is the largest of these, averaging
twenty pounds, although individuals weighing a
hundred pounds are caught occasionally. It is the
principal species taken in California and in the
Columbia River, but relatively few are caught in
Alaska. The red or sockeye salmon is the species most
sought after by Alaskan canners. It is much smaller
than the king-salmon, averaging only about seven
pounds; but, since its flesh is red in color, it is
preferred for canning to the species with lighter

204 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

meat. The humpback or pink salmon, so-called be-
cause of the color of its flesh, is the smallest and most
numerous of the Alaskan salmon, averaging only
about four pounds in weight. The chum or dog sal-
mon is a medium-sized fish, averaging about nine
pounds in weight. Since its flesh turns nearly white
during the canning process, it is the least valuable
of the salmon. Some coho, silver, or medium red sal-
mon are also caught in Alaska. Western Alaska
produces about two thirds of the red or sockeye
salmon, whereas central and eastern Alaska is the
native habitat of the humpback and chum salmon.
The life history of the Pacific salmon is very in-
teresting. The female salmon deposits her eggs in
shallow streams usually a hundred miles or more
from the ocean. The smaller male salmon swim-
ming over the salmon-colored eggs fertilizes them,
and in about two months they hatch and swim and
feed together in schools in the streams. When they
are two to three inches in length, they gradually
find their way out to sea. Formerly the disappear-
ance of the salmon in the sea was a mystery, un-
solved by the leading ichthyologists. The extensive
fishing operations conducted along the Pacific coast,
however, have disclosed that the vast rhajority of the
salmon are comparatively near the coast, while others
stay in the bays, straits, and sounds virtually all the
time when not in the rivers. Some years ago it was
noticed that king-salmon would take a hook while
in salt and brackish waters. At first only sportsmen
were interested in this fishing, but, as the demand
for the giant king-sahnon increased, commercial

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 205

fishermen began to troll for salmon, and now trolling
is an important branch of the industry.

While in the sea the salmon grow to be large hand-
some fish. When they reach maturity at the age of
two to seven years, the age depending upon the spe-
cies, they again return to fresh water, usually swim-
ming up the same stream from which they came. By
this time the roe is fairly well developed, and when
the salmon reach shallow water in the upper reaches
of the river, which sometimes necessitates a journey
of fifteen hundred miles, they spawn. The salmon do
not eat after they have entered fresh water, and by
the time they reach the head-waters of the rivers
they are weak and emaciated. Soon after spawning,
they die, having accomplished their life work.

Each female salmon that is permitted to do so
spawns two thousand or more eggs. And yet, so
thorough is the fishing, not enough eggs are spawned
to maintain the fishery. For this reason, the United
States Bureau of Fisheries, the several state fish com-
missions, and the Canadian government maintain fish
hatcheries in which eggs taken from salmon are fer-
tilized and hatched. Later, when they are large
enough to take care of themselves, the fry are
returned to the stream. Thus the young fish are
cared for until they have passed the age at which so
many are destroyed by trout and other predatory
fishes.

Salmon canning is a seasonal business. During
the autumn and winter, when the salmon are not run-
ning, the canneries are deserted save for a watch-
man or two. But late in the spring the first of a fleet

206 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

of vessels arrives bringing the salmon fishermen and
their equipment to Alaska. The trap-nets are soon
set and are ready for the first run of fish. Other
vessels arrive, bringing labor and equipment to man
the canneries.

The salmon swim up the rivers in great schools,
which swim past for days at a time. Each species
arrives in a given locality at a definite season of the
year. The Chinook or king salmon is the first to
arrive in most localities. The run of red or sockeye
salmon sometimes begins as early as May and extends
usually to the middle of August. The silver or coho
salmon runs later in the season than any other
species.

When taken from the traps, the fish are placed in
large scows in which they are transported to the
canneries, which are often large factories where the
salmon are canned on a big scale. The first step of
the canning process is the cleaning of the fish, which
is accomplished by the use of modern labor-saving
devices. After the head and tail are cut from the
fish by means of a band-saw, the fish enters an auto-
matic dressing machine which removes all entrails,
fins, blood, and slime from the salmon. Formerly this
work was done by hand by Chinamen, vulgarly known
as "Chinks"; for this reason these salmon-cleaning
machines are known as "iron chinks."

From the iron chink, the fish pass on to another
machine in which they are scaled, scraped, brushed,
and washed. From here, continuous belts carry the
fish to cutting machines, which cut the fish trans-
versely into sections of the exact length of the cans

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 207

to be filled. The sections of the fish are then coiivcyed
to the filling machines, which pack the proper weight
of fish in the cans. The filled cans pass on to the
sealing machines, which attach the tops loosely. The
cans are then exhausted with steam and hermetically
sealed by a machine called a double seamer. The
canned salmon is then cooked in large autoclaves,
with steam under pressure. After cooling, the cans
are tested and then labeled in automatic machines.

Few of us when we eat a sardine sandwich think
of the great care required in producing sardines of
a high grade. These little fish are very delicate and
require careful attention throughout the canning
process in order to keep them intact and in good con-
dition, and to obtain the desired delicate flavor.

All sardines are of the herring family. Those
caught in California are called pilchards or Cali-
fornia sardines. The Maine canners pack young sea
herring; in France and Portugal the pilchard is
canned, and in Norway the sprat is used. The differ-
ences in taste between sardines from various coun-
tries depend more upon the methods used in packing
than on the species used.

The American sardine industry, which is cen-
tered in northeastern Maine and in southern Cali-
fornia, produces nearly half of the world's sardines.
Sardines were first canned in France in 1845, and
until 1880 France had a virtual monopoly of the
industry, but between 1880 and 1887 the French
catch was very small. For this reason some of the
French packers moved to Spain and Portugal. The

208 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

American industry, which had begun in 1875, took
advantage of the opportunity to capture some of the
trade which the French were unable to supply. The
industry grew rapidly until the quantity of sardines
packed in the United States exceeded that of any
other country.

Spain, Portugal, and Norway also possess impor-
tant sardine-canning industries. Moreover some sar-
dines are canned in Canada, Chile, India, Sweden,
and Algeria.

In France, Spain, and Portugal the fish are dried,
fried in oil, and packed in cans, which are then
sterilized by heat. In Scandinavia a smoking process
is generally used to cook and dry the fish before pack-
ing. This method produces a sardine of a distinctive
and desirable flavor.

In Maine some sardines are packed in mustard
or tomato sauce, and some are fried in oil without
steaming ; but most of them are spread on flakes and
cooked with live steam for ten to fifteen minutes,
and, after drying, they are beheaded and packed in
oil in cans, which are sealed and sterilized by heating
in autoclaves.

Most of the sardines packed in California are
cleaned, briiied, dried, and then fried in cotton-seed
oil. The cooked fish are packed in one-pound cans
with tomato sauce; after which the cans are sealed
and sterilized. Some small sardines are packed in
oil in quarter-pound cans. Since the California in-
dustry has developed largely since 1916, the factories
are quite modern and are equipped with the latest
labor-saving machinery.

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 209

Curiously most of the pilchards caught in the
waters along the coast of southern California are
captured at night. The schools of sardines are located
by the phosphorescent light produced by the move-
ment of the fish through the water. This light can be
observed only when it is very dark, for even a small
amount of moonlight or even bright starlight makes
it difficult to see. The running-lights of the fishing-
boats are even darkened by covering them with cloth,
so that they will give only enough light to be seen at
a short distance by other boats, but not enough to
obscure the evidence of fish. At night it requires great
skill to distinguish between schools of sardines and
schools of other small fish. The fishermen note the
differences in the trails of light as the fish swim away
from the boat. Sardines are powerful swimmers and
leave long slightly curved trails resembling the
luminous paths of skyrockets.

The California sardines are caught in huge
lampara nets, which are laid out in a circle about a
school of fish. Occasionally as many as a hundred
tons of sardines are taken in a single haul. Such a
catch would fill a half-million quarter-pound cans of
sardines ! But the fishing business is a precarious one,
and for every time such an enormous catch is made
a hundred hauls are made in which none at all is
caught.

Most of the California sardine canneries also can
tuna of which about fifteen million pounds is canned
each year in the State. At first only the albacore or
"white-meated tuna" was canned, but for the past

210 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ten years the supply of this fish has been insufficient
to meet the demand. For this reason, large quantities
of blue-fin tuna, yellow-fin tuna, and striped tuna
have been packed. Yellowtail and bonito are also
canned. Fishing for tuna is great sport, as the fish
are of large size and are caught on hook and line by
men in motor-boats. These fish range in size from
twenty to more than two hundred pounds. Because of
the bad taste of the oil which these fish contain they
are cooked with steam before they are packed into
cans. This effects a partial extraction of the oil. Af-
ter the cooked tuna has been packed into cans a
vegetable oil is added.

Canned mackerel is becoming popular. Much of
this fish is canned in California and Japan. Recently
the fish salters have begun to can both fresh and
slightly salted cod and haddock. This industry prom-
ises to give the cod-salting business much competi-
tion.

Miscellaneous Preserved Fishery Products

The Europeans preserve fish in many ways that are
almost unknown in America. Marinated or pickled
fish are very popular in continental Europe, espe-
cially in Germany. In Italy and other countries of
southern Europe, fish are marinated by frying in hot
oil and then packing in spiced vinegar ; in Germany
the fish are prepared for the vinegar pickle either
by baking and frying or by salting in salt brine or in
brine containing some vinegar. Russian sardines are
also pickled fish prepared by first salting the sar-
dines or young sea herring in strong salt brine and

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH 211

then pickling in spiced vinegar. Bismarck herring
are prepared from large sea herring by a similar
process. "Rollmops" is a popular marinated product
which appeals to the German taste. It is prepared
by rolling a boned and vinegared herring with a slice
of cucumber pickle or onion.

Many other interesting preserved fish products
are prepared on a large scale in Germany, Norway,
Denmark, and Russia. Among the more important
may be mentioned anchovy paste, fish sausages,
Christiania anchovies, German delicatessen, and
caviar. The Japanese pickle fish by merely covering
them with hot vinegar according to a process resem-
bling that of the preparation of cucumber pickles.
Other curious fishery products popular in the Orient
are canned fish pudding, shark-flesh paste, dried
shark fins, and bagoong (fermented anchovies). The
Chinese are especially fond of soup prepared from
shark fins and dry large quantities of them.

CHAPTER XII

By-Products of the Fishery Industries

FEW of us realize tLe extent to which the
numerous by-products of our fisheries enter
into our daily life and aid in the enjoyment of
many of our modern conveniences. Fish oils, meals,
liver oil, fish scrap, fish glue, isinglass and shark-skin
have many important uses with which most persons
are not familiar. In Chapter II many of the every-
day uses of fish oil were pointed out. Fish glue has
nearly as many and as varied uses as fish oil; these
uses also have already been indicated. Fish scrap pre-
pared from fish waste and from fish not commonly
eaten, such as the menhaden, finds extensive use as
meal for the feeding of cattle, sheep, hogs, and
chickens, and in the preparation of all sorts of
fertilizers.

Isinglass, prepared from fish sounds (swim-
bladders), no longer possesses great commercial im-
portance, but its uses are varied. This curious sub-
stance is used in the preparation of the better grades
of court-plaster, for the clarification of certain
beverages, especially fine wines, and in the prepara-
tion of certain adhesives, especially belt cements.

Recently leather manufactured from the skins of

fish has become very popular. Shark-skin leather has

been manufactured in large quantities in recent

212

BY-PRODUCTS OF FISHERY INDUSTRIES 213

years, and shark-skins have come to be of consider-
able value. Thus the demons of the sea which are so
destructive of fishermen's nets have been found to be
a blessing in disguise. Until their skins became of
value it was thought that sharks were exceedingly
numerous, but now that a shark fishery has been
established, the shark fishermen have found difficulty
in catching sufficient sharks to keep up with the
demand.

Despite the very low price at which most fishery
by-products are sold, their total annual value to the
American manufacturers of these products is about
twelve million dollars. About half of this is obtained
from fish and whale oils, of which more than thirteen
million gallons are produced annually. The quantity
of fish scrap produced is also very large, amounting
to more than two hundred million pounds. The bulk
of this scrap commands a rather low price, as it is
sold for fertilizer.

About half a million gallons of fish glue is pro-
duced each year. The manufacturers estimate its
value at about six hundred thousand dollars, but the
cost to the consumer is several times this amount. An
immense quantity of cracked shells is sold as poultry
grit, the annual production of about five hundred
million pounds bringing more than two million dol-
lars. A large amount of oyster shells is also made into
lime, which is used for mortar, for plaster, and for
agricultural and other purposes. Some clam shells
are also crushed and used for the same purposes.
Other fishery by-products include shark fins, herring
scales, stearin, fish flour, and shrimp bran.

214 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Fish-Oils

Fish-oil has long been considered an unpleasant
subject of conversation. Dark of color and foul of
odor, it formerly reminded one of unsightly back
alleys strewn with rotten garbage and decaying fish.
The research chemist has taken the putrid odor
from fish-oil, but its evil reputation has stuck.
Despite the fact that paints prepared with refined
fish oil can scarcely be identified by their odor, it
is difficult to sell to the general public paints known
to contain fish-oil. It is possible, by chemical processes
invented during the past few years, to make fish-
oils into light-colored, sweet-smelling oils or into
solid white fats resembling lard or tallow. A given
sample of fish-oil may be made into beautiful white
"wax" candles, or into soft edible lard-like fat. Or,
if you prefer, the chemist can bleach the oil and
destroy its odor without changing its properties.

Fish-oils are obtained from the entire bodies of
certain fatty fish. By far the most important of these
is the menhaden, which is also known as the pogy,
hardhead, hardhead shad, bony-fish, whitefish, moss-
bunker, bunker, chebog, marshbanker, alewife, old-
wife, bug-shad, bughead, fat-back, shiner, and her-
ring. Its average length is from ten to twelve inches,
and it usually weighs nearly a pound. Menhaden are
caught in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic
coast of the United States as far north as Massa-
chusetts. Formerly the fishery extended as far north
as Maine, but in recent years sufficient fish have not
been caught there to justify a fishery. As the men-

BY-PRODUCTS OF FISHERY INDUSTRIES 215

haden is a migratory fish, the season differs on
various points along the coast. Some are caught in
Florida throughout the year, but most of them are
caught between April 1 and November 1. In North
Carolina, the northward movement of the fish ends
about the middle of June. From then on .little fish-
ing is done until autumn, when the fish return. In
the Chesapeake Bay region, where most of the fish
are caught, the season begins about the middle of
May, when the fish usually appear at sea, where they
are captured during the latter part of May and
June. In July, August, and September, the fishing is
carried on chiefly in the bay. From then until the end
of the season, usually about the middle of November,
the fish are again caught at sea.

Large steamers have gradually supplanted the
motor-boats, schooners, and sloops formerly used in
the fishery. The fish are caught in purse-seines, from
eighteen to twenty yards in depth and 270 to 400
yards in length. Attached to the bottom of the net
are lead sinkers which keep the net submerged in the
water, while at the top are numerous corks which
keep it on the surface.

The menhaden swim near the surface in large
schools. When a school of fish is sighted by the look-
out in the crow's-nest, two seine-boats, each carrying
half of the net, leave the steamer and encircle the
school. When the two boats meet, a large piece of
lead called the tom is attached to the purse-lines and
dropped overboard to hold the ends of the net. The
net is then pursed; that is, the bottom of the net is
pulled together so that the fish cannot escape. After

216 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

this has been accompHshed, the steamer comes along-
side, and the fish are dipped out of the purse by
means of a bailing net and placed in the hold of the
vessel. When possible, the menhaden steamers return
to the factory every evening to unload their catch.

The conversion of the fish into scrap and oil is
a relatively simple process, involving merely the
cooking of the fish, the pressing of the cooked mass,
the drying of the scrap, and the separation of the oil
and water by settling. The modern machinery used
for rendering the fish into oil and scrap looks very
complicated, but it handles immense quantities of
fish rapidly with very little labor.

In most up-to-date factories the fish are cooked by
live steam as they are being conveyed through a
stationary horizontal steel plate cylinder by a con-
veying screw. This type of cooking machine receives
its supply of fish by means of a mechanical conveyer
directly from the fish bins, and delivers the cooked
fish directly to the continuous screw press which
presses the oil and water from the hot fish. The
oil and water flowing from the press are conducted
through a trough to a receiving tank, where a pre-
liminary sedimentation takes place, and a consider-
able quantity of solid matter that has been forced
through the press with the liquid is separated. From
the receiving tank the emulsion passes to a series of
tanks in which the separation of the oil and water
gradually takes place. The pressed cooked fish is
dried in rotary driers, in which the scrap is heated
by hot air as it gradually works its way toward the
lower end of the cylinder.

BY-PRODUCTS OF FISHERY INDUSTRIES 217

Menhaden scrap is sold chiefly to fertiHzer manu-
facturers, who mix it with potassium salts and acid
phosphate. In recent years much scrap has been sold
to stock feeders as meal for hogs and cattle. It also
is a popular chicken feed.

In California the surplus pilchards or sardines
are cooked and rendered into oil and scrap by a
process similar to the one described above. Much
sardine scrap is also made by an extraction process
in which the fish are cooked and dried by direct heat
in a continuous cooker. The cooked, dried scrap,
which is known as unfinished meal, is extracted \fvdth
gasoline or low-boiling naphtha. After dissolving out
practically all of the oil, the naphtha is separated
from the meal and distilled. Thus the naphtha is
recovered, and the fish-oil is left in the still. The
extracted scrap is heated with steam until all of the
gasoline is driven oif . This scrap is much lower in oil
content than pressed scrap and for this reason is pre-
ferred for chicken feed, nearly the entire production
being sold for this purpose.

In Washington and some places in Alaska, the
inedible parts of salmon are manufactured into scrap
and oil by cooking and pressing. Large quantities of
Alaskan herring are also converted into meal and oil.
The part played by fish-oil in American industries
has already been discussed, but no mention of its
valuable properties has been made. Menhaden, sal-
mon, herring, and sardine oil which have been freed
from stearin are very valuable succedanea for linseed
and china-wood oils for use in the preparations of
paints and varnishes. Old linseed-oil films become

218 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

very brittle and crack because of the expansion and
contraction caused by alternate heating and cooling.
Fish-oil films are more elastic and consequently do
not check so quickly. On this account they are used
in nearly all paints exposed to extreme changes of
temperature, such as those for roofs and smoke-
stacks.

Liver Oils

Cod-liver oil, like fish-oil, has had a bad name for
a long time. Its undesirable reputation is not entirely
deserved but is largely a heritage of the early days
of the industry when it was made by placing the
livers in barrels and allowing them to rot. Under
these conditions the liver cells burst, and the oil
which extruded was skimmed off. In winter, the first
oil obtained was light in color and was used as medi-
cinal oil. The darker oil obtained later was called co3
oil and was used for the curing of leather. When no
more oil exuded, the remainder was obtained by pla-
cing the residue in an iron kettle and heating it over
a fire. This dark rancid oil was also sold as cod oil
for industrial purposes.

All this has been changed within the last few
years. A hundred or more chemists have been study-
ing methods of production, processes of removing
the color and odor, and methods of separating the
vitamines to which this oil owes its valuable therapeu-
tic properties. These researches have accomplished
wonders, resulting in novel processes of manufacture
which have greatly improved the quality of the oil,
so that now the best oil has relatively little odor and
taste.

BY-PRODUCTS OF FISHERY INDUSTRIES 219

New methods of refining the oil have produced
entirely colorless and tasteless oil, which may be
taken by the most sensitive persons without nausea.
The oil has also been hardened by treatment with
hydrogen and thus transformed into a colorless, odor-
less, solid fat resembling tallow. Indeed all of the
various consistencies, from a limpid oil to a mushy
fat, a lard-like substance to an exceedingly hard fat
such as stearin, may be obtained. Such solid fats
are suitable for increasing the fat-soluble vitamine
content of margarin and other vegetable fats. The
semisolid fats may be used for the preparation of
tasteless emulsions for medicinal purposes. Methods
of separation of the fat-soluble vitamines have been
discovered which have enabled chemists to obtain solid
vitamine concentrates that can be conveniently ad-
ministered in tablet form.

Modern manufacturing processes for the produc-
tion of medicinal oil require the use of strictly fresh
cod livers. Such livers are available chiefly in cold
weather. For this reason medicinal cod-liver oil is
prepared only in late autumn, winter, and early
spring. The livers are carefully heated in steam-
jacketed kettles, after which the oil is separated from
the tissue by pressing under moderate pressure in
bag presses. Still better oil may be made by render-
ing the livers in vacuum boilers. This treatment pre-
vents overheating and thus insures a light-colored
oil. Some cod-liver oil factories operate a small
refrigeration outfit in conjunction with their plants.
In these factories, the room in which the livers are
pressed is kept cold, thus preventing decomposition.

220 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Cod-liver oil and other fish-liver oils owe their
therapeutic value to their fat-soluble vitamine con-
tent. These liver oils are high both in the antixeroph-
thalmic, growth-promoting vitamine A, and the
anti-rachitic vitamine D. Cod-liver oil is especially
valuable in the nutrition of children, since it aids in
the proper growth of bones, thus preventing rickets.
Furthermore it stimulates growth because of its con-
tent of the growth-promoting vitamine. Cod-liver and
other fish-liver oils are also used in the treatment
of all forms of malnutrition, various forms of tuber-
culosis, chronic rheumatism, and gout. Cod oil, or
the technical grade of cod-liver oil, finds extensive
use in the manufacture of "chamois" leather, in the
currying (finishing) of all leathers, and in the man-
ufacture of oiled cloth and low-grade soaps.

Commercial cod-liver oil and cod oil are seldom
made from cod livers alone. Inasmuch as the oils
obtained from the livers of the haddock, hake, pol-
lack, and cusk can scarcely be distinguished from
cod-liver oil, and since these fish are caught on the
same grounds, the livers are seldom kept separate.
Thus commercial medicinal cod-liver oil is really a
mixture of several liver oils. Two other liver oils,
those from the shark and skate, are of commercial
importance, finding use in the finishing of leather.
Some shark-liver oil is now manufactured in America
in connection with the shark leather industry. Most
of it, however, comes from the Orient, where shark
meat and fins are valued highly for use as food. The
Japanese produce large quantities of shark-liver
oil from many different species of sharks. Liver oils

BY-PRODUCTS OF FISHERY INDUSTRIES 221

prepared from most species of sharks resemble cod-
liver oil in appearance and composition. Some shark-
liver oil finds use medicinally in the Orient, but most
of it is utilized in the currying and tanning of leather.
Skate-liver oil is manufactured chiefly in India,
although some is occasionally prepared in North
Carolina. This oil is also used medicinally in the
Orient.

Fish Scrap

Fish scrap is a by-product of fish-oil manufac-
ture. An immense quantity of fish scrap is manufac-
tured; more than a hundred thousand tons is pro-
duced annually in the United States alone. The two
important uses of this product are for meal and as
fertilizer. Somewhat more care is used when fish
scrap is prepared especially for meal, but most fish
scrap is now of a good enough quality to make a
satisfactory feed.

Fish have been used as manure almost since the
beginning of agriculture. When the colonists first
came to America, they found the Indians putting a
fish beneath each hill of corn. The fish rotted and
caused the corn to grow much faster. Just why the
decaying fish caused an increased growth of corn was
not understood by the Indians. An early German
chemist, Liebig, often called the Father of Agricul-
tural Chemistry, was one of the first to show that
decaying fish furnishes plants with two important
elements required for growth; namely, nitrogen and
phosphorus, elements lacking in most soils. Nitro-
genous fertilizers such as fish scrap aid in the growth
of all crops on nearly all soils, except those such as

222 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

muck soils which already contain an excess of organic
matter and consequently much nitrogen. Phosphorus-
containing fertilizers stimulate the formation of
fruits and grains. Thus fish scrap is an excellent
fertilizer for corn, which requires much nitrogen for
growth and also phosphorus for grain formation.

Relatively little fish scrap is sold direct to the
farmers, however ; most of it is bought by manufac-
turers of mixed fertilizers, who grind it and mix it
with potassium salts and other fertilizer ingredients
in order to make a complete balanced fertilizer. Some
fish scrap is not dried but after being thoroughly
pressed is acidified with sulphuric acid. This product,
which is termed green or acidulated scrap, is sold
direct to the farmers. Such scrap cannot be mixed
with other fertilizer ingredients, as it contains too
much moisture, but the acid acts as a preservative
and keeps it from rotting. This grade of fish scrap
is seldom shipped any great distance but is sold to
the farmers residing near the menhaden factories.

Most of the fish scrap produced along the Pacific
coast of the United States is prepared especially
for use as feed. Some menhaden scrap is now used
as meal, and each year more is used in this way. The
ordinary menhaden scrap is suitable for the feeding
of animals, but it can be made much more palatable
by improved methods. Menhaden scrap is ordinarily
dried in rotary hot-air driers, in which the products
of combustion of coal or oil enter the same end of the
revolving driver. The gases are very hot and often
scorch the scrap, making it unfit for use as meal.
Steam-heated driers must be used if a high-grade

BY-PRODUCTS OF FISHERY INDUSTRIES 223

meal is to be produced. Inasmuch as these are some-
what more costly than direct-heat driers, manufac-
turers have been slow to install them.

In California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska,
much fish meal is manufactured. In California much
meal is prepared especially for chicken feed by the
extraction process. Much meal is also prepared in
special continuous units designed to handle rela-
tively small amounts of fish and fish waste with a
minimum of labor. Although heated air is used to
dry the waste in most of these outfits, the products
of combustion are not permitted to pass over the
fish. These continuous fish-meal reduction units are
also in general use in Oregon, Washington, and
Alaska.

Fat- free fish meal makes an excellent feed for hogs,
sheep, cattle, and chickens. Meal containing fresh
fat (not rancid) is a still better feed for hogs, sheep,
and cattle. Considerable care must be used, however,
in storing fatty fish meal, as the presence of rancid
fat in animal feeds gives the fat of the animal a
slightly fishy taste.

Fish meal is an excellent source of protein for
poultry and for growing live stock, since not only is
the protein in a readily digestible form but this feed
contains a high percentage of calcium phosphate,
which is needed for the formation of eggs and bones.

Fish Glue

Fish glue is another fishery by-product which has
an evil reputation because of the foul odor commonly
associated with it. It need not have an especially bad

224 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

odor, for if unspoiled fish waste or trimmings from
salted fish is used in its manufacture, the product
does not possess an unpleasant smell.

The best grade of liquid glue is the one known as
skin glue. This glue is prepared from the skins of
salted cod and cusk. The second-best grade is pre-
pared from the skins of salted haddock, hake, and
pollack, mixed with trimmings from all kinds of
salted ground-fish (cod, cusk, haddock, pollack, and
hake). This grade is known as waste glue.

The same general process is used in the manufac-
ture of both of these grades of glue. First the stock
is thoroughly washed with fresh water. This opera-
tion is accomplished by placing the stock in a large
circular tank, covering it with water, and rolling it
with a heavy wooden roller. The stock must be washed
for at least twelve hours in order to remove all the
salt. When it is completely freshened the stock
is thrown into steam- jacketed, false-bottomed,
rectangular galvanized iron cookers, where it is
covered with water and then heated with steam. After
about six hours the steam is shut off and the glue
liquor drawn off. The stock is then cooked a second
time.

The glue liquors, formed by the solution of the
fish in hot water, are strained through excelsior, and
then evaporated to a viscous syrup. After evapora-
tion the glue is preserved by the addition of phenol
and some essential oil such as camphor or sassafras.

Fish-head glue is made by washing and cooking
fish heads. The fresh heads and backbone of cod,
cusk, haddock, hake, and pollack are principally

Courtesy of U. S. Bureau of Fisheries

ADULT MALE CHINOOK SALMON

The principal species taken in California, Oregon, and Washington

AN ALASKAN SALMON CANNERY
Salmon canneries are often l)ui]t out over the water

A TIGER SHARK

A shark of this size
yields much valuable
leather

A STING RAY

This fish also has a skin used for the
manufacture of excellent leather

SEA-LIONS

Although these mammals are less valuable than fur-seals, their
skins may be tanned into leather

BY-PRODUCTS OF FISHERY INDUSTRIES 225

used in the manufacture of this glue in the United
States.

Fish glue is the only common liquid glue. The so-
called animal glues (hide and bone glues) will not
dissolve in cold water and, when dissolved in hot
water, form jellies when cooled. For this reason fish
glue is adapted for uses to which other glues are
unsuited. It is a strong adhesive, yet it is sufficiently
flexible to be used in the preparation of flexible glues.
It is used wherever a strong, ready-prepared adhesive

is required.

Isinglass

Many persons confuse isinglass with mica. True
isinglass is prepared from the sounds or swimming-
bladders of the sturgeon, hake, and other fishes. It
is often said that the large meat-packing houses
utilize everything except the squeal of the pig; on
the other hand, the fish packers utilize even the
sounds of the fish. There is some truth in this pun,
for in the large fishery centers, such as Gloucester
and Eastport, the fish packers do not waste any
part of the fish. But the fishing industry is so widely
scattered along thousands of miles of coast-line that
the waste of many fishery products in out-of-the-way
places is unavoidable.

The best isinglass is made in Russia from the
sounds of the sturgeon. The manufacturing opera-
tions are simple, the sounds being split open, care-
fully washed, cleaned, and dried. The prepared
sounds are treated in various ways, depending upon
the form desired. Long staple, short staple, leaf,
book, and cake isinglass are the chief forms in which

226 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

it is marketed. These trade names refer simply to the
form and method of packing the product for the
market.

American isinglass is prepared principally in
Massachusetts, where the quaint old town of Rock-
port is the principal center of the industry. This
isinglass is marketed chiefly in the form of ribbons.
Such isinglass is prepared by soaking the previously
dried sounds in water until they become soft, after
which they are chopped into pieces and rolled many
times until they are converted into a very thin ribbon,
which is wound on a wooden spool.

Isinglass is often considered to be gelatinous or
gluey in nature; but, although it may be converted
into glue or gelatin by boiling with water, it is
neither glue nor gelatin. It is similar in composition
to fish skin. It does not dissolve in water unless it is
heated, whereupon it takes on gelatinous properties,
forming a tough jelly when cooled. It is used in the
clarification of fine wines and other beverages.
Formerly it was used for the preparation of edible
jellies and in the manufacture of marshmallows and
other candies, but since gelatin has become so inex-
pensive these uses have become obsolete. It also finds
use in the preparation of high-grade glues and
special cements. Some is still used in the preparation
of high-grade court-plaster.

Shark and Other Leathers or Marine Origin

Although the skins of certain marine animals
(seals and walruses) have been tanned for many cen-
turies, it is only recently that any attention has been

BY-PRODUCTS OF FISHERY INDUSTRIES 227

given to the tanning of the skins of true fishes. It
required the services of the modern chemist to make
leather from shark skins, for the outer covering is
very hard and difficult to remove. This hard rough
coating, called shagreen, was formerly used as an
abrasive and for sword-hilts. Until the scientist
studied the problem, the only known way to remove
the shagreen was to scrape the surface with a heavy
rasp or file. According to the more up-to-date pro-
cesses the skins are first tanned with a vegetable tan-
ning extract, and then the shagreen is removed by
milling with an acid solution. Inasmuch as the
shagreen is calcareous in nature, this treatment
quickly removes it. After the removal of the rough
coating, the tanned skins are then treated with cer-
tain fatty liquors which make them soft and pli-
able.

A slightly different process is carried out in pro-
ducing chrome tannage. In this case the shagreen is
first removed, after which the skins are pickled in
dilute acid and then placed in the tanning solution,
which contains a basic salt of chromium. After tan-
ning is complete, the skins are treated with a soda
solution and then dyed.

The shark fishery has been of much assistance to
the other fisheries, as sharks are very destructive of
the relatively frail nets set for other fishes, often
tearing them to pieces. The sharks are usually caught
in wire nets, which are so strong that they cannot be
torn, and which have such large meshes that the
smaller fish can pass through.

North Carolina and Florida are the centers of

228 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

the shark fishery. The fishermen seldom tan the skins,
but remove them from the sharks, carefully salt them,
and then ship them to the tanneries.

Shark leather finds use in the manufacture of
ladies' hand-bags, men's bill-folds, brief-cases, the
uppers of shoes, card-cases, and slippers. It adapts
itself readily to all sorts of grains and finishes and
for this reason is a popular leather for the manu-
facture of all sorts of novelties.

Skate, devil-fish, saw-fish, and ray skins resemble
those obtained from the shark, and are prepared for
tanning and tanned by the same processes. They
possess a calcareous layer of shagreen, which is
removed by an acid treatment in the same way that
this layer is taken from shark's skin. These leathers
are used in much the same way as shark leather.
They are especially popular when made up into
novelties.

A limited amount of cod, cusk, haddock, hake, and
pollack skins are tanned and the resultant leathers
made up into small novelties such as bill-folds and
card-cases. Since such leather is really so beautiful
and useful, it seems a shame that so little fish skin
is utilized.

Hair-seal and walrus skins are not covered with
fur, and, since they resemble closely the skins of land
animals, they are tanned into excellent leather. A
century ago walruses were plentiful in Greenland,
Labrador, and other countries of the far north. But
they were so easily captured that relatively few of
them are left. Hair-seals were much smaller and were
not nearly so valuable, and accordingly they were

BY-PRODUCTS OF FISHERY INDUSTRIES 229

not pursued so relentlessly; for this reason there
are still many large herds.

The process used in the preparation and tanning
of seal skins is practically the same as the process
employed in the tanning of the skins of land animals,
except that the finishing process is somewhat dif-
ferent. After the tanning process is completed, the
skins are dampened with a coat of season containing
blood albumen and are then rolled on the glazing
jack until a bright finish is obtained. When an
especially bright finish is desired, the skins are
dampened a second time and again rolled. The final
finish which is so characteristic of seal leather is ob-
tained by a process known as boarding. This is
accomplished by rolling the skins in such a manner
as to produce miniature wrinkles running at different
angles along the grain. Seal and walrus leathers are
used in suitcases, traveling-bags, and the like.

Porpoises, dolphins, blackfish, and whales are
marine mammals which resemble each other in many
respects. Porpoise, dolphin, and blackfish skins have
been used in the preparation of high-grade leathers
for many years, but whale leather has never found
an important use. Porpoise leather has been made
to imitate cordovan, and produces a very worthy sub-
stitute. But since it is exceedingly strong, it finds
its principal use in the preparation of lace leather,
which is used for lacing up machinery belting. Por-
poise lace leather is prepared by tanning the skins
first with alum and salt and then with cod oil, after
which the leather is oiled with a mineral oil. The
product is very strong and flexible.

CHAPTER XIII

Oysters^ Clams, and Other Mollusks

OYSTERS, like many other fishery products,
have been eaten since prehistoric times. The
ancient Greeks and Romans were very fond
of oysters. The origin of the culture of oysters is
shrouded in antiquity; some writers say that the
Chinese first practised the art, while others contend
that the Romans cultivated oysters before the
Orientals learned to do so. The answer to the question
seems to depend upon the definition of oyster cul-
ture. If one defines it as the putting out of cultch or
spat collectors and the care of the oyster from the
spat stage, ancient Rome probably led.

Oysters are taken along the coasts of nearly all
temperate countries. Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia,
and North and South America all have oyster indus-
tries, although the bulk of the production comes from
North America and Europe.

Europe produces about five million bushels of
oysters annually. France, England, Holland, and
Italy furnish nearly all of these. The French industry
is highly developed, and is the greatest in Europe.

The United States now produces annually about
seventeen million bushels of oysters, valued at twelve
million dollars. At the close of the nineteenth cen-
tury the production was approximately twenty-seven

230

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 231

million bushels. Since that time the quantity taken
has decreased because of pollution of the coastal
waters and over-fishing.

Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York
taken together produce about two thirds of the
American production, although some oysters are
grown in every coastal State except New Hampshire
and Maine, where the water is too cold for oyster
culture.

Each oyster-producing center is very proud of
its product, and usually asserts that its oysters are
the best in the country. In some places the opening
of the oyster season is a time of ceremonious feast-
ing. In Colchester, England, the mayor dredges the
first oysters and eats the first one opened. The neigh-
boring oyster center of Whitstable also conducts
special ceremonies at the opening of the oyster season.

The development of an oyster industry depends
to a considerable extent upon transportation facili-
ties. A perishable product, such as the oyster, must
be marketed soon after it is taken from the water.
Oyster beds located in out-of-the-way places are often
unprofitable because of the difficulty in shipping the
fresh oysters to market. Such beds are often exploited
by canners who are unable to pay high prices for
their raw material. For this reason the canning in-
dustry is located principally in South Carolina,
Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Nature does her best to keep us bounteously sup-
plied with oysters. A full-grown female Atlantic coast
oyster produces annually about sixty million eggs.

232 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

If all of these eggs grew to be mature oysters, there
would be no water in our harbors, for they would
be entirely filled with oysters. About the same time
that the female spawns her eggs, each male oyster
discharges billions of sperms into the water, which
swim around until they come in contact with an egg.
A few hours after fertilization of an egg, a swimming
embryo is formed. The tiny oyster develops rapidly,
soon growing shell valves. Even when the shell has
grown so that it covers the little oyster, the larva
is very, very small, being only about one four-hun-
dredth of an inch long. For the first two weeks of the
oyster's existence, it swims rapidly around, pro-
pelled by a fine hair which resembles a tail. At the
end of this period it attaches itself to some clean
solid object on the bottom, and loses its power to
swim. This stage in the oyster's life is known as the
spat or set stage. When the oysters are large enough
to be handled individually, they are called seed-
oysters. In Northern waters, these little oysters grow
to be market oysters in about four years, but in the
warmer waters of the South they grow much faster,
attaining market size in two years.

The shell of the oyster is lined with a thin mem-
brane called the mantle, which is fringed all around
the edge and unattached along the margin. The
oyster possesses four gills which are excellent filters,
removing from the water the exceedingly small living
animals, chiefly diatoms and dinoflagellates, which
the shell-fish eats. The gills are covered on both sides
with very fine hairs arranged in rows, which beat back
and forth, causing a current of sea-water to pass

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 233

through the gills into tubes and thence into the
cavity above. As the water passes through the gills,
the colorless blood of the oyster is aerated. Thus the
oyster uses the same organs for eating and breathing.

In the early days of the American industry, oysters
were very plentiful in all of the bays and harbors
from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic
coast. Oysters could be taken in large quantities from
the public waters. But as the demand for this delect-
able shell-fish increased, fishing on the public grounds
became so intensive that large areas became ex-
hausted. Many harbors became so polluted with trade
wastes that oysters could not live.

When the value of oysters became sufficiently high
to warrant the expenditure of the necessary effort,
oyster culture in privately owned or controlled waters
became the general order of the day. If it were not
for the commercial growing of oysters in protected
waters, these shell-fish would be very scarce indeed.
Oysters are still taken in large quantities from many
public grounds, but as the years pass a larger and
larger proportion are grown by the oystermen.

The first operation in the growing of oysters is
the planting of old shells, which act as spat collectors.
The oysters spawn during July and August; conse-
quently the oysterman must have his beds of shells
ready at that time. The shells must not be placed
too soon, else the shells become covered with dirt and
then the set will not stick to them. If the oysters do
not spawn soon after the shells have been deposited
on the ground, they are stirred up with dredges to

234 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

brush the dirt from them. If conditions are right,
the tiny larval oysters settle to the bottom and attach
themselves to the shells that the oysterman has
planted. At this stage the little oysters are so small
that they are invisible to the naked eye. In most
localities, in the autumn, the oystermen move the
shells, to which the young oysters have attached them-
selves, to deeper water where the little shell-fish will
be safe from the winter's storms. Even there the
oysters are not entirely free from danger, for many
enemies prey on them. The starfish, to which every
visitor to the sea-shore is attracted, is one of the most
persistent. The villainous creature wraps itself
around the oyster, strangling it. When the oyster has
been killed, its shell opens, and the starfish eats the
fresh meat. The oysterman must watch his oysters or
the starfish will eat them all up. When the starfish
becomes troublesome, the oysterman mops his beds
with huge stocking-yarn mops. The back of the star-
fish, which is rather thorny, becomes entangled in
the mop, which is then drawn to the surface and im-
mersed in boiling water or treated in some other way
so that the starfish are killed.

Another powerful enemy of the oyster is the
mussel. Mussels, like oysters, fasten themselves to
shells or other objects, and often attach themselves to
the shell of a young oyster. Sometimes a number of
small mussels completely surround an oyster and
grow so fast that they smother it. To rid the oysters
of mussels, the oystermen must dredge up the oysters,
pick off the mussels, and then return the oysters to
the bottom.

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 235

The drill is another dangerous enemy of the oyster.
This little shell-fish belongs to the conch family and
looks a great deal like a periwinkle. It has a spiral
drill like an auger and bores through the oyster's
shell, thereby killing him. If drills attack an oyster
bed, about the only thing to be done is to move the
valuable shell-fish to another bottom.

When the oysters are about two years old they are
transplanted. The oysterman attempts to spread
them out so that all of them have room to grow. Care
must be used in handling oysters, or they will be in-
jured, and a considerable number will be lost.

The oysterman must not only watch the living
enemies of the oyster, but he must also guard his
waters from pollution by sewage and trade wastes
turned into the bays by towns and factories. Many
wastes from chemical plants will kill the larvae before
they settle to the bottom, and some will destroy fully
groTSTi oysters.

Pollution by sewage seldom kills oysters, but it
renders them unfit for consumption. The fine strain-
ing apparatus of the oyster takes from the water
many bacteria and other microscopic organisms ; and
if the w^ater contains disease germs, such as those
which are found in sewage, they may be found in
the oysters living in the polluted waters. Recently a
method of disinfecting living oysters has been in-
vented by which the oysters are treated with small
amounts of chlorine.

Oil from vessels of all sorts floats on the surface
of all harbors which have much shipping. This oil
forms a thin, nearly continuous film which prevents

236 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

the absorption of air by the water. Thus, while the
oil may never touch the fish and shell-fish in the water
beneath, it may kill them by suffocation.

Oysters are usually taken for market at the age of
four or five years. Before being marketed, they are
often placed in less brackish water, which causes
them to swell. This process is erroneously called "fat-
tening," the increase in size resulting merely from
absorption of water. "Fattening" is sometimes carried
out by placing the oysters on a slatted float anchored
in relatively fresh water.

In this country oysters are taken either by tonging
or dredging. Tongs are employed chiefly by oyster-
men of small means who take oysters from shallow
beds. Oyster tongs are long, scissor-shaped instru-
ments with toothed iron baskets fitting together at
the lower end. The handles vary in length from twelve
to more than twenty feet, depending upon the depth
of water in which they are used. The baskets, which
catch and hold the oysters, are about ten inches wide
and three feet long. Usually, when tonging for
oysters, the oysterman works in a flat bottomed skiff,
often called a bateau.

The great bulk of the oysters taken in America
are removed from the beds by means of dredges,
which vary in size from light hand dredges, with a
capacity of two or three bushels, up to huge dredges
which hold thirty bushels. The larger dredges are
operated either by means of a donke3^-engine or by
the steam engine of the dredge-boat. The boats vary
in size from small sloops, nicknamed skipjacks, to

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 237

the large steam vessels which operate six big dredges
simultaneously. When dredging for oysters, one or
more dredges are dragged behind the boat as it pro-
ceeds at reduced speed, until the dredges are thought
to be full; then they are hauled in and the contents
dumped on deck, where the oysters are sorted out of
the debris.

Oysters are usually unloaded from the deck or
hold of the boat by means of bucket and hoist upon
the wharf, or directly into large steel wheelbarrows
in which they are conveyed into the oyster house.
In some of the larger houses the oysters are hoisted
into bins in the uppermost story of the building, from
which they are automatically carried by means of
conveyers to the culling and shucking benches.

Oysters are sold both in the shell and as shucked
oysters. Whole oysters are sold for eating in the
half-shell. The shell trade demands the best oysters,
which must be carefully selected. American oysters
which have a good reputation because of their flavor
are the Blue Points, Cotuits, Maurice Rivers, Lynn-
havens, Chincoteagues, Cape Cods, and Rockaways.
Blue Point oysters are grown in Great South Bay
and take their name from Blue Point on its northern
shore. Blue Points are of medium saltiness and possess
a very delicate flavor. The usual Blue Point oyster is
small and well rounded. Cotuits, obtained in Cotuit
Harbor, Massachusetts, are larger and more pointed.

The people of Philadelphia are the greatest con-
sumers of oysters in the world, although Baltimore
and New York are not far behind. "Oyster bars" dot

238 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

the Philadelphia streets throughout the market sec-
tion, and a large number of its restaurants make a
specialty of sea-food. Baltimore and New York are
likewise noted for the excellence of their sea-food.

Because of the great bulk of the shells, whole
oysters are seldom shipped great distances. The prin-
cipal demand in the United States is for shucked
oysters. The oysters are opened or shucked in the
oyster-house. The arrangement of the oyster-house
depends to a large extent on the capacity of the
plant. The actual operation of opening the oyster
is always carried out by hand, as no one has devised
a satisfactory machine for the purpose. The chief
obstacle which stands in the way of the invention of a
mechanical opener is the variation in the size and
shape of the shells.

The workmen, called shuckers, work at benches,
where they crack the thin end of the shell and insert
their oyster knife. Some shuckers do not take the
trouble to break off the ends but force the knife
between the shells at the side or at the thin end. The
knife cuts the large adductor muscle and thus frees
the shell. Another cut through the same muscle com-
pletely removes the oyster meat from the other shell.
A fast shucker can shuck about eight bushels of
oysters a day, thus producing ten to twelve gallons
of meats. The shells are dropped upon a moving
belt which carries them out of the house to a huge
pile where they are dumped. The meats are washed
in fresh water usually first on a perforated table and
later in tanks. Often the water is aerated during the

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 239

washing process. The washed oysters are graded ac-
cording to size, from the smallest, "standards,"
through "selects," "counts," to "extra selects." They
are then carefully drained, placed in containers,
packed in ice, and shipped. Recently, small, sealed
tin cans of oysters have become very popular. Such
containers permit the retailing of the oysters with-
out exposing them to the air. Non-returnable tin
cans of one, three, and five gallons capacity are also
in common use.

It is hardly necessary to mention the many deli-
cious dishes prepared from oysters. In Europe, oysters
are a food enjoyed only by the rich; but in America
they are commonly eaten all along the Atlantic and
Gulf coasts and in many inland cities. The Europeans
usually eat oysters raw, either in cocktails or on the
half-shell. In the coastal cities of the United States,
many oysters are eaten in this way, but even there
more are cooked. In the interior, oysters are more
commonly served in soup, chowder, stews, fricassees,
pot-pies, fritters, and as fried and scalloped oysters.
There are at least a hundred inviting dishes which
may be prepared from oysters. There is a single bulle-
tin ^ that tells how to cook them in ninety-eight ways.
Some of these will arouse one's curiosity; surely
"angels on horseback" and "pate a la princesse" are
dishes fit to set before any king. For those of more
plebeian tastes, "oyster sausages," "oysters and
spaghetti," and "oysters a la Kirkpatrick" will be
more likely to appeal. New Englanders will be
5 Bureau of Fisheries, Economic Circular No. 58 (1923).

240 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

pleased with "Yankee oyster pie" ; Baltimoreans are
sure to want "Maryland stew" ; and Southerners will
cook their "oysters a la Creole."

Practically all the world's production of canned
oysters is prepared in the United States. About
seventy-five oyster canneries operating in nine dif-
ferent States produce a total of a half million cases
of oysters each year.

Since the shucking of live oysters requires con-
siderable strength and great skill, the canners steam
the oysters before removing the meats. This is
accomplished by pushing latticed iron cars loaded
with the live oysters into a large steaming room, in
which the oysters are steamed for about five minutes.
When the oysters die, their shells open, and it is
then an easy matter to remove the meats with a knife.
The oysters are then washed and packed into cans.
The tops are loosely attached to the packed cans by
an automatic machine. After the air has been driven
out by steam, the cans are run through a sealing
machine, which crimps the tops on so as to make a
tight seal. The sealed cans are sterilized by heating
in an autoclave under pressure, and, after cooling,
are labeled for packing. The canning of oysters re-
quires considerable care, as it is difficult to retain the
firmness of the raw oyster. Modern scientific methods
have greatly aided the canner.

Inasmuch as the whole oyster is eaten except for
his shell, the only by-products are the many shell
products. Perhaps the most important use for the
shells is as cultch to catch the young oysters at the
time they change from free-swimming larvae to the

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OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 241

secondary "set" oysters. Other shells, rocks, stakes,
or even brush would answer this purpose, but, since
most oystermen have a surplus of oyster shells, these
are usually spread on the bottom selected for the
new ground. Another use of great importance is as
grit for poultry. Both oyster and egg shells consist
largely of calcium carbonate. Chickens and other
domestic birds have difficulty in obtaining sufficient
calcium to form shells for their eggs. In order to
aid the birds to get an ample supply of this element,
poultrymen feed cracked oyster shells to them. Shells
are prepared for cracking by drying in a rotary
drier, and are then crushed and screened into various
sizes of grits. Oyster shells are also made into lime
by strongly heating in a kiln. This process, called
burning, destroys the organic matter of the shell
and converts the carbonate of lime into the oxide.
Lime prepared in this way is used for plaster, fer-
tilizer, and the like. Formerly many oyster shells
were used in the construction of roads, the well
known shell roads of the South being built of this
material. Superior road materials are now available,
so that oyster shells are used less and less for this
purpose.

The American Clam Industry
Long before the arrival of the first white man in
America, clams were the favorite food of the Indians
along the coasts. The sites of the old Indian villages
are still well defined by huge piles of clam shells, or
kitchen-middens, as they are called. Clams were not
only a source of food but also of "suckawhock,"
or black money. Wampun or white money was also a

242 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

shell product, for it was made from periwinkle shells.
Suckawhock had about twice the value of wampun.
The manufacture of these belts of beads required an
enormous amount of labor. A half-inch of shell was
worked down into a cylindrical bead, bored with a
drill made of splinters of flint, and then polished with
great care. One hundred and eighty beads strung on
a sinew and woven on a strip of deerskin with twelve
similar rows of beads made a belt of suckawhock or
wampun, depending on the kind of beads used in its
preparation. These belts of beads were used by the
Indians, not only as money, but also for ornamental
purposes, keeping records, sealing friendships, and
concluding treaties. They were more useful to the
Indian than gold and silver are to-day. In early
colonial days, the colonists used this shell money as a
medium of exchange, giving each belt the value of
about five shillings.

To-day clam shells are worth but little, but the
clams themselves are of considerable value. The
United States produces annually about ten million
pounds of clams, valued at two million dollars.
Maine, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and Massa-
chusetts lead in clam production. Massachusetts
alone yields half a million dollars' worth of this shell-
fish.

Four species of clams are of commercial impor-
tance in the United States. In Connecticut and the
States farther north on the Atlantic coast, more soft
clams (Mya arenaria) are taken than hard clams
{Verms mercenaria) , From Delaware southward, the

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 243

hard clam is the only one of commercial importance.
Some surf-clams, "skimmers," are marketed in New
York. A long, narrow clam called the razor is the
principal species taken in Washington. Mya, the soft
clam, is known by many local names ; the more com-
mon are long clam, long neck, squirt-clam, maninose,
sand-gaper, and old maid. Venus, the hard clam, is
commonly called quahog or quahaug, round clam,
and, in the smaller sizes, cherry-stone and little-neck
clam.

Larval clams resemble young oysters in that they
pass through a free-swimming stage. These minute
clams rotate spirally as they move through the
water. When the little clam is only one three-hun-
dredth of an inch in diameter, it grows little shells.
Millions of the free-swimming clams can be found
over the clam flats during the summer months. After
swimming for a few days, the young clams settle to
the bottom and attach themselves to shells, seaweeds,
or pebbles by means of minute threads which they
spin. At this stage, the young clams do not remain
stationary but often detach their anchors by means
of their feet. When the young clam has become about
a hundredth of an inch in length, it burrows into the
bottom. Newly buried, soft clams occasionally come
to the surface, creep a short distance, and then bur-
row in again. Once the clams have reached a half-
inch in length, they burrow in deeper and never rise
to the surface again. Soft clams grow from a length
of one inch to three inches in a single year, but the
growth of the hard clams is much slower.

The culture of both the hard and the soft clam

244 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

is carried out in a limited way in New England.
Small areas are found bn almost every flat where
small soft clams are found in enormous numbers at
certain seasons of the year. Sometimes as many as
two thousand seed-clams per square foot of surface
are obtained by washing the sand or mud through a
cradle-shaped sieve. Seed-clams obtained in this way
are planted on suitable tidal flats, and grow to
market size within a year or two.

A somewhat similar system of culture has been
suggested for the hard clam but has never proved
profitable. Box spat collectors are used which some-
times catch as many as seventy-five young hard clams
per square foot of bottom, but as a rule the catch
is insufficient to warrant the requisite expenditure of
labor.

The history of the soft clam industry is quite
similar to that of most of our fishery industries and
may be summarized in a single sentence: The sup-
posedly inexhaustible supplies, rapidly exhausted by
over-fishing, were saved from complete exhaustion by
conservation and culture. The period of plenty ex-
tended from colonial times to about 1875, when im-
proved transportation facilities opened up larger
markets. The over-fishing that followed soon depleted
many of the finest beds, and, by the beginning of the
twentieth century, much attention was given to re-
stocking the beds.

Soft clams are dug both on exposed tidal flats and
on flats covered with shallow water. Submerged clams
are dug with a very large clam hoe called a sea-horse,

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 245

which is worked deep into the sand and then dragged
through the shallow water. The clammer's partner
follows, collecting the clams upturned by the sea-
horse.

Dry digging on flats left exposed by the tide is
a much more common practice. The clammers push
a "hoe" resembling a potato-digger into the sand for
the length of the tines and then turn up the sand,
thus exposing the clams. The clam-digger picks up
the marketable clams and places them in a lath
basket. When the basket is filled, the clams are care-
fully washed to remove all mud and sand.

Soft clams are either marketed alive in the shell or
shucked out. The smaller white clams of pleasing
appearance are usually sold in the shell for steam-
ing. A bushel of clams yields about seven quarts of
clam meats. Shucked clams are usually shipped either
in kegs or butter tubs.

During the summer season, when the best prices
are paid for clams, the clammers are able to make
very good profits from their small investment.

The Indians fished for hard clams by the primitive
method of treading. The treader waded about bare-
footed in shallow water, feeling with his toes in the
soft mud for the quahogs. Such a simple method is
not applicable to commercial fishing to-day, as there
are few flats where sufficient clams can be found in
shallow w^ater. The colonists preferred soft clams to
the hard species and so gave little attention to this
fishery. Indeed it was not until the beginning of the
twentieth century that hard clams became popular.

246 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

About that time the little-necks or small quahogs
came into favor, and the demand soon grew so great
that the natural clam beds could scarcely supply it.
The hard clam fishery is an important one in Massa-
chusetts, Rhode Island, New York, North Carolina,
and Florida. There are still many great beds of these
clams along the coasts of the Southern States that
have never been disturbed.

Inasmuch as quahogs are usually found in rather
deep water, much more complicated equipment is
required for their taking than for soft clams. Where
the clams are taken in relatively shallow water,
various t3rpes of rakes are used. For deeper water,
small dredges are in common use. Both rakes and
dredges are operated from boats. As soon as the clams
are brought ashore, they are washed and graded. In
Massachusetts, the quahogs are graded into small
and large "little-necks," medium and large "sharps,"
and large "blunts." The little-necks are the smallest
and most valuable grade. Blunts and sharps are
alike except for the difference in the thickness of the
edge of the shell. The blunts are thick-lipped and
have a somewhat heavier shell than the sharps, which
have sharp edges. Little-necks vary from 1.5 to 3
inches in length, whereas medium sharps and blunts
range from 3 to 3.75 inches and large ones from 3.75
inches up.

If the market is dull, the quahogs are often either
bedded in sand or spread on floats submerged in pro-
tected waters. The clammer has only to spread his
clams out on a tidal flat, and they will burrow into
the sand and continue their growth. The use of

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 247

floats possesses the advantage that the clams need
not be dug again.

Razor-clams, so called because of their long, nar-
row shape, are taken chiefly on the coasts of Oregon,
Washington, and Alaska. An important canning in-
dustry has been developed on the Pacific coast, which
now produces about a million dollars' worth of canned
razor-clams each year. Razor-clams are chiefly found
in the sand between the tide lines. They are usually
most numerous near the low-water mark, and so are
taken in the largest quantities during the spring
tides when the run-out is the greatest. Razor-clams
dig large elliptical holes which extend about two feet
into the sand. When all is quiet and the clam feels
secure, he remains at the top of his hole so that the
shell extends an inch or two above the surface of the
sand. But, if anything startles him, he quickly sinks
deep into the hole. These clams are usually dug with
short-handled spades. Over-fishing has threatened
this clam fishery; for that reason, Washington now
has a closed season from June 1 to September 1.

Soft clams are canned in Maine, Massachusetts,
and Rhode Island ; Florida and Washington produce
canned hard clams. Razor-clams are packed in
Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. The combined
production is about four hundred thousand cases,
valued in excess of two million dollars.

Clams are canned whole and minced, and as chow-
der and soup. A limited amount of clam bouillon and
juice is also preserved by canning. The packing of

248 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

clams requires much more tedious labor than the can-
ning of oysters, for the meats are dressed and cleaned.
The visceral mass, siphon, and side walls are cut out
and discarded. Some of the juice of the clams which
runs out during the dressing process is added to the
filled cans. The remainder is canned separately and
sold under the name of clam nectar.

Clam chowder, which is also canned in large quan-
tities, is usually prepared from the hard clam because
it has the most pronounced clam flavor. A large num-
ber of ingredients enter into the preparation of this
favorite New England dish. Clams, bacon, fresh pota-
toes, onions, tomatoes, parsley, thyme, sweet mar-
joram, salt, and pepper are common components
of chowder prepared especially for canning. The
mixture is boiled with water for a few minutes and
packed in cans, which are then topped, sealed, and
processed.

Clam extract finds extensive use, not only for its
clam flavor, but also as a food for invalids and con-
valescents. It is prepared by steaming clams placed
on racks or gratings. This cooking causes much of
the juice to run out into pans placed under the racks.
After filtering, the juice is concentrated by evapora-
tion, and then placed in cans, which are topped,
sealed, and sterilized.

Scallops

Nature not only furnishes us with a great variety
of good things to eat, but often wraps them in beau-
tiful packages. Scallops and abalones are delicacies
incased in beautiful shells. The beauty of scallop

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 249

shells, otherwise known as frills or fan shells, has
been known for many years. Centuries ago the
medieval pilgrims, returning from the shrine of St.
James at Compostella, Spain, decorated their hats
with scallop shells. The American Indians used scal-
lop shells as the raw material for the making of many
of their shell ornaments. Even to-day the ingenious
Yankees make many beautiful ornaments from these
shells. In colonial times, scallops were much more
plentiful than they are to-day. During severe storms
large numbers of these moUusks were killed and
washed ashore. The farmers residing along the coast
utilized some of them as fertilizer and as feed for
their hogs and chickens. It was not until 1870 that
the scallop came to be generally eaten as human food.
To-day scallops are rather scarce and are highly
esteemed as one of the finest delicacies among sea-
foods.

Although four species of scallops are found along
the Atlantic coast, only two are of commercial im-
portance. The shallow-w^ater scallop, Pecten, is found
from Massachusetts to the Gulf of Mexico. The sea-
scallop, Placopecten, lives in deeper and somewhat
colder water.

Scallops are much more independent than clams
and oysters, as they are able to swim through the
water. This is accomplished in a curious manner.
The shell-fish rotates slowly, opening and closing its
shell, alternately discharging water first near one
lobe and then the other, until it reaches the sur-
face, when its motion ceases, and it slowly sinks to
the bottom. Shallow- water scallops often lie on the

250 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

eel-grass near the surface ; when disturbed, they drop
quickly to the bottom. The bay scallop is short lived,
seldom living more than two years. Sea scallops prob-
ably live somewhat longer, although no one has accu-
rately determined their average length of life.

Curiously, the shallow water scallop is hermaphro-
ditic, each individual being both male and female.
The spermatozoa and ova are discharged alternately,
so that there is little danger of self-fertilization. The
young scallops grow rapidly' reaching maturity in
less than a year. Comparatively few live to spawn
the second year.

Bay scallops are mainly taken in dredges operated
either from a type of sail-boat called a cat-boat, or
from a motor-boat. Six or more dredges are dragged
along the bottom by a single boat. When the dredges
are hauled in, the catch is dumped on a culling board.
The catches are often very interesting ; sometimes the
dredge contains fish, lobsters, crabs, tin cans, bottles,
stones, bits of wreckage, and so forth, though, when
the boats are over good grounds, but little trash is
hauled up with the scallops. While the dredges are
being pulled back over the grounds, the rubbish is
separated from the scallops, which are then trans-
ferred to bags or dumped into the cockpit of the
boat.

The fisherman takes his catch of scallops to his
shed, where the scallops are opened, and the "eyes"
(adductor muscles) are removed. The remainder of
the scallop is either discarded or used as bait. Prej-
udice is curious, for it dictates that only the adduc-

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 251

tor muscle of the scallop be eaten, but finds no objec-
tion to the eating of whole oysters. The remainder of
the scallop is edible and has an agreeable flavor but
nevertheless does not find use as food. The scallop
openers become very skilful and are usually able to
cut the eyes from fifteen bushels in a day, thus ob-
taining about eleven gallons of scallop eyes.

Scallop eyes are usually soaked in fresh water
before they are marketed. In this way the large
plump eyes demanded by the trade are obtained. Un-
fortunately this treatment greatly reduces the length
of tijme the scallops may be kept without spoilage,
and thus makes it impossible to ship them great dis-
tances. Notwithstanding this, the practice of plump-
ing is practically universal. Probably the fishermen's
greediness has as much to do with the continuance
of the practice as anything else, for a gallon of fresh
scallops upon being plumped becomes a gallon and a
half, thus increasing the apparent quantity of
scallops by fifty per cent.

Because of their larger size, sea scallops are more
valuable than bay scallops. Formerly it was thought
that these scallops occurred only from Massachusetts
northward, but in recent years large beds have been
found along the coast of Long Island, and off the
coasts of New Jersey and North Carolina. The fish-
ing methods are similar to those just described, ex-
cept that larger dredges and boats are used. Large
trawl nets are also used in the Southern fisheries.

Portland, New York, and Boston are the best mar-
kets for scallops.

252 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

The California Abalone Industry

The abalone industry has already been mentioned
in the chapter on pearls and mother-of-pearl. In
the United States, abalones were taken for their beau-
tiful shells long before the food value of their flesh
was recognized by Americans. Just as the American
Indians residing on the Atlantic coast utilized clam
shells for ornamental purposes and for the manufac-
ture of shell money, so the Indians of the Pacific coast
used abalone shells for these purposes.

The early Chinese immigrants first recognized that
the California abalones were quite as valuable as food
as the Oriental Haliotk, and began to gather these
mollusks for their meat. The Chinese built up an
important abalone drying and smoking industry,
which still exists to-day. It is only recently that the
abalone has become a popular American dish.

The abalone is a large marine snail. Six species
are found on our Pacific coast but none on the
Atlantic. The abalone, like the common snail, has a
well developed head and a powerful adhesive creep-
ing foot. Many tragic tales have been told of the
adhesive power of the abalone's foot. Various writers
record the drowning of Chinese fishermen by the
incoming tide while they were held fast to the bottom
by an abalone. While such an occurrence is possible,
it is highly improbable, and it seems likely that these
tales were invented by persons with fertile imagina-
tions to account for the mysterious drowning of
abalone fishermen.

Some abalones are taken by fishermen wading in

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 253

shallow water at low tide, but they are much more
plentiful in water from eighteen to sixty feet in
depth. Most of the fishing is done by the Japanese,
who go down to the bottom in diving-suits and de-
tach the abalones by slipping a steel chisel under
the expanded foot of the shell-fish. When the diver
has filled his net basket with shell-fish, he signals to
his assistant, who hoists the shell-fish to the boat and
then lowers an empty basket.

The abalones are so large that small steaks may
be cut from them. After the mollusk has been cut
from the shell, the visceral mass and the mantle
fringe are cut away from the large central muscle,
which is then sliced into small steaks, ready for fry-
ing. Stewed abalones and abalone chowder are also
excellent dishes.

A large proportion of the abalones taken in Cali-
fornia are cooked, dried, and smoked by the Chinese.
The product is exported to the Orient. The first step
in the preparation of this Oriental delicacy is the
salting of the fresh meats in brine. After being
thoroughly salted, they are washed and soaked, and
then spread on shallow trays to dry in the sun. After
four or five days, the abalones are cooked again, then
smoked and thoroughly dried. This process converts
the abalone meat into a tough, hard, brown product
which is difficult to slice, even with a sharp knife.
The Chinese either stew the dried product after soak-
ing, or grind it into a powder and make soup of it.

Canned abalone has recently become a popular
American food and would be much more popular if it
were better known. Much canned abalone is also ex-

254 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ported to the Orient. For the American trade, only
the foot muscle is minced and packed in cans, but
the abalones packed for export to the Orient con-
tain both the mantle and the foot muscle.

Sea Mussels

Curiously, while oysters, clams, scallops, and
abalones have been so generally exploited that the
important beds have been seriously threatened with
entire depletion, the enormous beds, of sea mussels
widely distributed along the coast of North America
have scarcely been touched. Some are sold in New
York, San Francisco, and Seattle, but they have
never come into general use as food.

In Europe, however, the demand for mussels for
food and bait is so great that the natural supply
cannot meet it; for this reason, much attention has
been given to mussel culture. France alone produces
about four hundred million pounds of mussels.

The invention of the system of mussel culture now
practised by the French dates from the thirteenth
century, when an Irishman named Patrick Walton
was shipwrecked on the French coast. Fortunately he
decided to make his home where he was stranded.
With inventive genius that would be a credit to a
Yankee, Walton immediately sought ways of in-
creasing the food supply of the region. His first
invention was the "alluret," a large net, a quarter
of a mile long and ten feet wide, for catching birds.
Walton noticed that young mussels attached them-
selves to the stakes of the bird traps in great num-
bers. These mussels grew more rapidly and were

OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 255

better flavored. This gave him the idea which he
developed into a practical system of mussel culture
that is still in use. Walton drove rows of stakes into
the bottom, arranged in the form of a V, with its
apex pointing toward the sea. Branches of chestnut
or other trees were woven in and out between the
stakes. The seed mussels attached themselves to the
lower stakes. When they had grown to the size of an
ordinary bean, they were transplanted to other
higher bouchots or rows of stakes. Walton's ingenu-
ity is indicated by his arrangement of the rows of
stakes in such a way as to act as cultch for mussels
and also as a fish trap.

In Europe, sea mussels are a popular food and are
eaten in the same way as clams. Fried mussels,
steamed mussels, mussel chowder, mussel fritters, and
pickled mussels are favorite dishes in France and
Holland. Raw mussels are also served on the half-
shell in the same way as oysters.

On the Atlantic coast of the United States, mus-
sels are utilized principally as bait for fish and as
fertilizer. Some mussels are preserved by pickling
and canning. Canning mussels does not cause them
to shrivel; the canned product possesses an attrac-
tive appearance and a pleasing taste.

Other Shell-Fish Industries

In America, large quantities of squid, a small mol-
lusk of the devil-fish family, are taken for use as bait.
On the Pacific coast and in New York they are also
used as food. Some are sold fresh, but the bulk of
those sold for food are dried and exported to the

256 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Orient. In China, Japan, and the Philippines, squid
and other larger devil-fish are highly prized for food ;
large quantities of devil-fish are preserved there by
drying and smoking. This strange mollusk does not
look like anything on the land or in the sea, and so
gets its name of devil-fish. When attacked, it dis-
charges an ink-like fluid, which muddies the water
so that its enemy cannot see it.

Many other shell-fishes are found on our coasts,
the most important being cockle, periwinkle, whelk,
piddock, natica, donax, and chiton. Cockles are com-
monly eaten in Europe and are a popular shell-fish
in England and Ireland. They are found on the
Pacific coast from Coos Bay, Oregon, northward, but
are utilized only in a very limited way. Piddocks, peri-
winkles and whelks are also eaten in Europe but are
seldom used for any purpose in America. The pid-
dock possesses remarkable skill in boring a hole in a
rock for a home. He starts the hole by rubbing the
surface of the rock with a few grains of sand held in
his foot. When the hole is well started, he burrows
into the rock by constantly turning his rasp-like
shell in the cavity. A small mollusk called the donax
is taken on the California and Florida coasts. This
shell-fish is used in the preparation of soup which
is made by boiling the mollusks in a pot of water.
In certain districts this soup is preserved by canning.

CHAPTER XIV

Lobster, Crab, and Shrvmp
Lobster and the American Lobster Industry

IN colonial days lobsters were exceedingly plenti-
ful along the coast from Delaware to Labrador.
It is said that after severe storms the beaches
were littered with dead lobsters which had been
killed and washed ashore. Such tales seem rather
fanciful but probably are true, for these lobster
grounds were the finest ever known. One hundred
million lobsters have been captured on the Canadian
coast in a single year. In the eighteenth century
many of the lobsters taken were of great size. In
fact, the little lobsters weighing a pound or less such
as we get to-day were considered too small to be of
value. Lobsters weighing twenty-five pounds were
occasionally taken, and those weighing six to eight
pounds were often sold in the markets.

Even in the nineteenth century, lobsters of great
size were sometimes taken. One lobster which weighed
thirty-four pounds was caught at Atlantic High-
lands, New Jersey, in 1897. Its body was twenty-four
inches long, and with outstretched claws its entire
length was about four feet. Its crushing claw was
fifteen inches in length with a girth of over twenty
inches.

257

258 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

The American lobster fishery first reached impor-
tant proportions in Massachusetts early in the nine-
teenth century. The fishery was not extended to
Maine until 1840. Here it grew very fast and soon
overshadowed in importance that of Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts fishery is now nearly exhausted,
and the Maine lobster catch is rapidly decreasing
from year to year.

About 1870 the Canadian fishery became of impor-
tance and soon the Canadians were catching more
lobsters than were taken in all the rest of the world.
This lobster fishery is still far more important than
any other; but, unless conservation is practised, the
annual catch will rapidly dwindle, for the lobsters
are being caught more rapidly than they are
multiplying.

Several steps toward conservation have already
been taken. Laws have been enacted in both the
United States and Canada which forbid the taking
of both immature and egg-bearing or "berried"
lobsters. Further, closed seasons have been inaugu-
rated. These regulations have retarded the decline
of the fishery, but either they are not rigorously en-
forced or have not been sufficiently stringent to
maintain the fishery even at its already low level.

If the lobster were a rapidly growing crustacean
like the crab, the existing regulations would prevent
the decline of the fishery. But the lobsters grow very
slowly and do not reach sexual maturity until they
are about six years old and from seven to twelve
inches in length. If most of the lobsters over eight
inches in length are caught and sold, few can repro-

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 259

duce their kind. Further, since the young lobsters
grow so slowly, and have so many enemies which are
constantly diminishing their number, many larval
lobsters must be hatched in order to have one survive
to reach maturity.

The lobster industry of northern Europe has
passed through the same stages as that of America.
Lobsters, which were once very plentiful, have been
decimated by over-fishing, and are now very scarce
and high in price.

Lobsters are in many respects the most curious
creatures that live in the sea. Many biologists have
studied their gro\\i;h and life in order to find means
of propagating these crustaceans. Much has been
learned that has aided in the solution of the problem,
and recently the Rhode Island Commission of In-
land Fisheries has been successful in rearing lobsters
to the fifth or bottom-seeking stage of development.

Female lobsters spawTi a large number of eggs in
a single batch, the number depending upon the size
of the lobster and varying from 3000 to 100,000.
The eggs are not discharged into the water to sink
to the bottom or float with the currents, but are
attached to the swimmerets on the under side of the
mother's tail by a waterproof cement. The eggs
remain attached to the mother's tail for ten to eleven
months, during which they slowly develop until they
hatch.

The newly hatched larval lobster is transparent
and has a short shrimp-like body, with a ringed tail
stretched out almost horizontally, and a huge pointed

260 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

snout. It has gleaming emerald eyes and a bright
yellow liver. It looks more like a shrimp than a lobster
and is often mistaken for a larval gurnard.

The little lobsters grow very fast, their develop-
ment taking place in stages. The end of each stage is
marked by a molt ; the little lobster discards its shell
and, while it is growing, gradually goes through
several changes. At first the larval lobster swims aim-
lessly about, but soon it learns to swim in search of
food. It continues swimming about until at the end of
the fifth stage, when it is eight to ten weeks old, it
seeks the bottom and comes inshore.

During the rest of its life the lobster remains on
the sea bottom unless it is forcibly withdrawn.
Lobsters do not migrate up and down the coast at
definite periods as do many fishes and other marine
animals, but in warm weather they come in closer
to the shore, and in autumn they retire to deeper,
warmer water.

Lobsters continue to molt and grow throughout
their lives. After each molt they grow a new shell
just a little larger than the old one, and increase a
little in length and weight. The very fact that there
are so few large lobsters caught is an indication that
very few mature lobsters escape the trap for more
than a year or two.

We think of lobsters as extremely awkward
creatures that are scarcely able to move because we
have seen them lying helplessly on ice in some fish
market. But in the water, where they are buoyed
up by the weight of the liquid they displace, they
are very active creatures, walking nimbly over the

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 261

bottom on the tips of their slender legs. Lobsters
are agile, wary, pugnacious, and able to defend them-
selves against many larger enemies. Like many crus-
taceans they are cannibalistic and often destroy in-
jured or smaller lobsters. This tendency is not
especially evident in their natural abode, but wben
large numbers are cooped up in live-cars or pounds
awaiting sale, the larger lobsters usually kill and eat
the smaller ones.

Lobsters are, for the most part, carnivorous ani-
mals, living upon the fish and invertebrates which in-
habit the bottom and come within their reach.
Although they are great scavengers, it is probable
that they always prefer fresh food to stale. They are
very fond of clams and other mollusks and often dig
up the bottom in search of shell-fish. Lobsters not
only eat the meat of the shell-fish but also consume
fragments of the shells. It has been suggested that
the lime for the hardening of the shell after molting
is obtained from this source.

Nature has endowed the lobster with some remark-
able powers. Inasmuch as the lobster grows very
slowly and does not reach maturity until it is five
or six years old, he would have great difficulty in
surviving the many perils that constantly beset him
if he did not possess the wonderful power of regen-
eration or replacement of lost parts. Thus, if a
lobster loses a leg, a claw, or an eye, a new one soon
sprouts and is regenerated. Further, if a lobster gets
caught, he drops the leg or claw which is held, and
thus often manages to escape with his life. Later the
missing member is regenerated. Curiously the regen-

262 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

erated claw is not always similar to the lost one;
occasionally an individual is found with two crusher
claws or two toothed claws.

The normal color of the living adult lobster is a
deep green, although in some individuals it varies to
dark blue and nearly black. Occasionally red and
cream-colored lobsters are taken, but such colors are
abnormal. When lobsters are cooked their color
changes to bright red, because of a chemical change
in the pigment of the shell.

Lobsters are caught in baited traps called pots or
creels which operate on the principle of the old-
fashioned rat-trap, and are adapted for taking an
aquatic animal of dull wit but keen scent. These
traps vary somewhat in size and shape in different
parts of the country, but, in general, they consist
of oblong lath boxes having in one or both ends a
funnel-shaped opening, usually inclined obliquely
upward, through which the lobsters pass in quest of
the bait.

The common Maine lobster-pot has a flat bottom
and is semi-cylindrical in shape, being about four
feet long, two feet wide, and eighteen inches high.
It is constructed of common house laths nailed to a
hardwood frame. In each end is a coarse-meshed,
funnel-shaped net, the larger end of which is of the
same diameter as the pot, whereas the smaller end is
only six inches in diameter. These funnels are about
a foot deep and thus extend about half-way to the
center of the trap.

Each trap is weighted down to the bottom with

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 263

two bricks. Attached to each pot is a relatively short
rope which reaches to the surface, where it is attached
to the runner or main line, which is a thousand or
more feet in length. The traps are attached at fifty-
foot intervals. Either end of the runner is made fast
to a buoy, which in turn is anchored to the bottom.
Some lobster fishermen mark their buoys with a home-
made flag by which they can identify their gear even
when they are some distance away. Others paint
the corks and buoys in a distinctive manner.

The location and depth at which the pots are
placed depends upon the season, the shore, and the
nature of the bottom. In winter, as the lobsters then
retire from the shore, the traps are set in water from
sixty to one hundred and fifty feet deep. In the sum-
mer the pots are placed in water varying from ten to
sixty feet in depth. Many fishermen set a hundred or
more traps; and as lobsters become more and more
scarce, a larger and larger number of pots are set in
order to maintain the fishery at its present level.

The length of the intervals between the fishing of
the pots depends upon the number of lobsters in the
locality, the season, and the weather. During rough
weather it is not easy to pull the pots and remove the
lobsters, for it is very difficult to handle a skiff or a
small motor-boat in a sea churned into fury by fierce
winds. Foggy weather is also bad weather for fishing,
for the lobsterman has difficulty in finding his buoys
and in avoiding collisions with other vessels.

All sorts of fresh, salted, and stale fish are used as
bait. In New Jersey menhaden are commonly used
for this purpose; but in Maine, where herring are

264 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

cheap, this fish is often used. The fish used as bait
are placed in the center of the trap and are either
threaded on a copper wire and suspended from the
roof or fastened upon a peg or spear fixed upright.

Although the lobster cannot see far through the
water, he is guided to his food by his strong power of
scent. Traps placed in currents where the odors com-
ing from the bait are widely diffused usually catch
many more lobsters than those set in quiet water,
other conditions being equal. The crustaceans are
often sly and wary, and walk around the trap many
times before yielding to the temptation it presents.

Once taken, lobsters must be handled with care or
they will seize a finger or two in their scissor-like
claws ; and, as one can easily imagine, shaking hands
with a lobster is not likely to be a pleasant experience.
The lobsters of marketable size are placed in the
well of the fishermen's boat, while smaller ones taken
from the traps are tossed back into the sea. When
the fisherman returns to port, the lobsters are either
sold to wholesalers or placed in a live-car or pound
to be kept until the market improves. The live-cars
in which lobsters are kept are large rectangular
slatted boxes constructed of heavy lumber. These
cars are moored close to shore in quiet waters where
there is little danger of their being wrecked in heavy
seas. Dealers handling large quantities of lobsters
sometimes fence in areas of quiet water, thus making
a pound where large numbers of these crustaceans
may be kept h>r long periods.

Lobsters are usually packed with ice in barrels
before shipping. They are covered first with sea-

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 265

weed or paper and then with cracked ice. Burlap is
tacked over the top of the barrel. Lobsters are mar-
keted alive, boiled, and canned. In America most of
the lobsters are sold alive, and prepared for the table
by boiling. Since boiled lobsters are easier to handle
than live lobsters, one might expect that boiled ones
would be more in demand than live ones. But because
of a fear that the lobsters might have been dead be-
fore they were placed in the boiler, boiled lobsters
do not find a ready market.

The demand for live lobsters in the United States
exceeds the supply. On this account none are canned.
But in Canada a large number of short lobsters are
taken. Since these little lobsters are too small to be
legally sold in the United States they are canned.
Since there is no law to prevent the sale of small
canned lobsters, a large proportion of the canned
lobster is sold in the United States.

The first step in the canning process is the boiling
of the live lobsters. This is carried out by immersion
for thirty minutes in weak brine heated to the boiling
point. After cooling, the meat is removed from the
shell, and packed in cans lined with parchment paper,
some tail, claw, and arm meat being put in each can.
After the covers have been crimped on, the cans are
exhausted, sealed, and sterilized by heating with
steam under pressure.

The American Crab Industry

When the present size and importance of the
American crab industry is considered, it is hard to
believe that this has all been developed within the

266 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

past fifty years. Until about 1875, crabs were seldom
seen in any fish market except those in the cities along
the coast. Even in these markets, crabs were not
important items of trade. From that time until 1915
the fishery grew rapidly. In that year the production
reached fifty million pounds; from this peak the
catch has diminished until now it is only about half
that figure.

The crab industry of the Atlantic coast is located
chiefly in the Chesapeake Bay. The village of Cris-
field, Maryland, is the center of the soft-crab in-
dustry. Although only a town of four thousand in-
habitants it possesses a very important crab and
oyster industry and wholesale fish business, with more
than fifty dealers in crabs and crab meat located
here. Crabs, oysters, and fish taken in this part of
the bay are brought to Crisfield for shipment to
Baltimore, Norfolk, Philadelphia, and New York.
Few other towns are so dependent upon the fishing
industry. Some crabs are also caught on the Pacific
coast, but the industry there is not of great impor-
tance except in Washington.

The blue crab, Collinectes sapidus, is the im-
portant crab of the Atlantic coast. A different
species, Caricer magister, is the common crab on the
Pacific side. This crab is exceedingly abundant on
the Alaskan coast, but the fishery has not been devel-
oped to an important extent, chiefly because of the
great distance from the markets.

Crabs are very interesting crustaceans. They are
hatched from very small eggs, which are only about
one one-hundredth of an inch in diameter, not as

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 26T

large as the period at the end of this sentence. No
one has yet counted the number of eggs in the
average sponge, as the egg mass of the female crab
is called, but the number has been variously esti-
mated as between 1,750,000 and 4,500,000. After
being attached to the fine hairs of the swimmerets
on the under side of the abdomen of the mother for
about two weeks, the little eggs hatch. The mortality
of the 3^oung crabs must be very high, for if all the
crabs hatched in one season grew to maturity, they
would crowd all of the water out of the Chesapeake
Bay.

The life history of the crab resembles in many
respects that of the lobster. The growth proceeds in
stages, taking place immediately after each molt,
just as in the case of the lobster. The growth of the
crab, however, takes place much more rapidly than
that of the lobster. Immediately after the first molt,
the young crab increases in length more than two
hundred per cent. From then on its growth is some-
what less rapid, as its average increase in width from
one stage to another is only thirty-two per cent. At
the age of one year, when about fifteen moltings have
occurred, the crab reaches maturity and does not
molt again. By this time, the crab is about six inches
in width. Individual male specimens are found which
are somewhat larger than this, sometimes attaining
a width of eight and a half inches and a weight of
one and a quarter pounds. Females seldom exceed
seven inches in width.

Young crabs also resemble lobsters and many other
crustaceans in possessing the power of regenerating

268 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

lost legs and claws. If a crab is caught and held by a
leg or claw, it throws off the appendage and thus
escapes with its life. The loss is not a serious matter,
for a protuberance forms in the end of the old stump,
which enlarges and becomes a thin-walled sac. At
molting-time the sac is discarded with the old shell,
and the new limb, which was folded up in it, appears
in its normal shape. The new limb is somewhat smaller
than the corresponding member of its pair, but at
subsequent molting it gradually increases in size
until it eventually attains full growth. Adult males
which have molted for the last time do not possess
the power of regeneration, or at least grow append-
ages very slowly.

Curiously a crab can walk forward, backward, and
sidewise; the usual direction is sidewise. The crab
swims either backward or sidewise.

In winter, crabs retire to deeper water, where they
lie on the bottom in a dormant condition. In summer
they migrate to shallow water, where they mate or
spawn. Sponge-crabs (female crabs with eggs
attached) are found chiefly in the southern part of
the Chesapeake Bay. The young crabs slowly migrate
to the northern part of the bay, where they are
found in great abundance during the latter part of
the summer. At first the young crabs molt every ten
days or two weeks, but as they near maturity the
period gradually lengthens until it reaches a month.
The shell of a soft crab hardens in two or three days
after molting.

In this, the most important crab fishery, crabs
are taken by means of scrapes, dredges, dip-nets, and

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 269

trot-lines. Scrapes and dredges are the most rapid
means of taking crabs, but require the use of larger
boats and more valuable equipment than the other
two methods. Soft crabs are taken principally with
scrapes and dip-nets, since crabs do not bite just
before and immediately after shedding, and so can-
not ordinarily be caught on trot-lines. Dredges are
used chiefly for taking hard crabs found in deep
water. They offer the only means of capturing crabs
in winter, when they lie inactive, on the bottom, or
partially buried in it,

A trot-line consists of a light rope, about a quarter
of an inch in diameter, varying in length from eight
hundred to two thousand feet, to which bait is
attached at intervals of three or four feet. The line is
anchored at each end, thus holding it in place while
on the bottom ; a buoy is also attached to the line near
the anchor in order to mark the location of the trot-
line. The trot-line is set very early each morning and
lifted when the crabs cease biting. The crab is a very
stupid creature indeed, for, once he has seized the
bait, he will not let go until he has devoured it. Thus,
when he has found the bait on the trot-line, he will
cling to it even though it is drawn to the surface. As
the crabber moves his boat along the trot-line, he lifts
the line and catches the crabs in a short-handled dip-
net while they are still clinging to the bait.

The crabber classifies his catch of mature crabs
into six groups : (1) hard crabs, which are those with
the ordinary hard shell; (2) snots, which have just
entered the molting stage ; (3) peelers, molting crabs
whose shells have begun to break; (4) busters, molt-

270 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ing crabs whose new shells can be seen; (5) soft
crabs, newly molted; (6) buckrams or paper-shells,
whose shells have begun to harden.

Soft crabs are much more valuable than hard
ones, but much more care must be taken in handling,
packing, and shipping them. Some soft crabs are
taken in dip-nets and scrapes, but most of them are
obtained by keeping peelers and busters in shallow
floats until they shed their shells. The usual float is
about four by twelve feet, and fifteen inches in depth,
and is made of pine or cypress.

The crabs are sorted into several lots before being
placed in the floats. Those about to shed are placed
in the shedding floats. Other floats contain those
which will molt in a day or two while still others hold
the green peelers. The crabs in floats are not fed, and
the water is often so warm that the mortality is high.
Much of this loss might be prevented if the floats
were made deeper and shaded from the hot sun ; and
as crabs become more and more valuable, it is likely
that greater care will be taken.

When first molted crabs are too soft and weak to
stand shipment, they are allowed to remain in the
floats a few hours before being removed for pack-
ing. Soft crabs are always shipped alive, packed in
shallow wooden trays each containing one layer of
crabs. A layer of seaweed is placed over the bottom
of the tray on which the crabs are placed, each one
resting on its apron and lapping over the next in the
row. The crabs are covered with a sheet of parch-
ment paper upon which seaweed and crushed ice are

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 271

placed. When soft crabs are shipped long distances
in hot weather, many of them die. In any case,
they must be treated as a very perishable commodity.

Some hard crabs are marketed alive; but, since
they are neither so perishable nor so valuable as soft
crabs, less care is taken in packing and shipping.
Usually they are shipped in barrels, with ice or
leaves or both. Most of the hard crabs are cooked
and the meat picked out of the shell. The cooking
is usually accomplished by steaming strap-iron
baskets full of crabs placed in a metal tank or cooker.
Steaming for thirty minutes changes -the color of the
crab from blue to bright red. After cooking, the
crabs are placed on the picking tables, where skilled
women pick out the meat from the body of the crabs.
Three kinds of meat are obtained, which are sold
separately. The lump meat, the muscles that operate
the swimming legs, commands the highest price. The
flake or white meat, which is next in value, consists
of the remaining muscles of the body with the excep-
tion of the claws. The claw meat is dark in color and
therefore is the cheapest.

A barrel of crabs yields three to four gallons
(fifteen to twenty pounds) of meat. Crab meat is
packed in tin cans with perforated bottoms. The
cans are in turn packed in barrels with ice and
shipped by express. Some of the shells are cleaned
and washed and shipped with the meat for use in the
preparation of deviled crabs.

Hard crab meat is also preserved by canning. This
industry is located principally at Hampton, Virginia,

272 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

the center of the hard crab fishery. The cooking and
picking operations are performed in the same way
as in the preparation of crab meat, except that all
three grades of meat are canned together. Some
crab meat is also canned in Maryland, Maine, Missis-
sippi, and Alaska. In most cases, however, the busi-
ness is carried on merely as a side-line to a fresh
crab meat or some other canning industry. The total
volume of business is small, usually being less than
fifty thousand dollars a year.

There are many crabs other than the blue crab
found on our shores. Various crabs are thought to
resemble such things as bugs, spiders, and horse-
shoes and for this reason have been given curious
names. Thus we have fiddler, hermit, king, horseshoe,
Jonah, lady, sand-bug, and spider crabs. The popu-
lar names of other crabs are indicative of their color
or habitat, such as green, yellow-shore, purple-shore,
red, kelp, sand, mud, mussel, oyster, rock, and stone
crabs. Most of these crustaceans are of little economic
importance. The rock-crab, Jonah-crab, stone-crab,
and the common Pacific crab. Cancer magister, are
all fished commercially to some extent.

The fishery for the common crab of the Pacific
coast is of importance in Washington and Alaska.
The methods of catching this crab resemble more
closely those employed in the lobster fishery than
those of the blue-crab fishery, for these crustaceans
are caught in hoop-nets and traps. The Pacific crab
attains a somewhat larger size than the blue crab
of the Chesapeake Bay.

o

H —

C C C

riioto by E. P. Churchill, Jr.

SOFT CRABS READY FOR MARKET

They are packed in trays upon a layer of seaweed

Photo by E. P. Churchill, Jr.

CRAB PT.OAT

Crabs about to molt are retained in slatted live-cars until they

have shed their shells

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 273

Our Shrimp Fisheries

Although "shrimp" is a derogatory term com-
monly used to denote an undersized, undesirable per-
son, marine shrimps are considered a delicacy by
connoisseurs of sea-foods. Shrimps are little crusta-
ceans found all along our coasts but caught in com-
mercial quantities only in the Southern and Pacific
States. Large numbers are also found in Alaskan
waters, but a fishery has not yet been developed.

The commercial shrimp fisheries are located
chiefly in Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi,
Texas, and North and South Carolina. Mississippi
and Louisiana lead in the production of shrimp. The
Mississippi fishery is concentrated at Biloxi, where an
important canning industry is located. In the spring
the Mississippi fishermen confine their operations to
the Mississippi Sound, but in autumn they visit the
Louisiana marshes, often going a hundred miles from
port for a week's fishing. Barataria and Timbalier
Bays are the most important fishing grounds of
Louisiana. Fishing camps are established on the
shores of these bays, from which the fishermen go
daily to the fishing grounds. Larger boats from New
Orleans visit the camps periodically and transport
the shrimp to the canneries. Fernandina, Florida,
and Brunswick, Georgia, are the principal shrimp-
fishing ports of the Atlantic coast.

Haul-seines are used in the shallow-water fishery
of Louisiana and Mississippi, whereas shrimp taken
in deep water are caught in otter-trawls. Formerly
all of the shrimp caught by the Biloxi and New

274 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Orleans fishermen were taken in haul-seines, but in
recent years the otter-trawl has been found to be
more efficient and is now used wherever the water is
of sufficient depth to permit it.

The otter-trawls used in shrimp fishing are similar
to those of the haddock fishery on the Grand Banks,
except that they are much smaller, usually being
about fifty feet long and forty feet across the mouth,
and are made of smaller meshed netting. Briefly the
otter-trawl used in this fishery is a huge, open-
mouthed, flattened, conical bag which strains nearly
everything out of the water as it is drawn behind a
power-boat at the rate of about four miles an hour.
After the trawl has been towed for thirty minutes or
so, the engine is stopped and the slack of the net
hauled in. The tail end of the bag, which contains the
catch, is worked around to the side of the boat and
finally hauled aboard.

Haul-seines are used in an entirely different man-
ner. When the fishing grounds are reached, the boats
patrol up and down until a school of shrimp is found.
The shrimp are located by means of a cast-net, which
the captain continually throws and hauls in his
efforts to find shrimp. When a school is found, the
haul-seine is paid out around the shrimp. As soon
as the school has been nearly surrounded, the seine
is usually drawn in close to the shore, where it is
entirely closed up and the shrimp crowded into the
bag.

Shrimp are marketed fresh (both whole and
headed) packed in ice, cooked packed in ice or brine.

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 275

dried, and canned. Most of the shrimp caught on the
Atlantic coast are packed in ice in barrels and then
shipped immediately. Since the heads constitute from
forty to forty-five per cent of the weight of shrimp,
they are ordinarily removed before shipment.

Shrimp keep better if they are cooked prior to
shipment. This is accomplished either by dipping
into boiling brine for fifteen minutes or by steaming
for half an hour. Cooked shrimp are cooled and then
packed in one to five gallon shipping tins which are
lined with paper. The filled tins are sealed and then
packed in barrels with ice. Cooked shrimp may be
transported long distances even in warm weather.
The surplus of fresh shrimp is either dried or
canned. Formerly the bulk of the surplus was dried,
but recently canned shrimp has become very popular,
until now about seven hundred thousand cases valued
at four million dollars are thus preserved each year.

Freshly caught shrimp are packed in ice until
they are needed in the cannery. The first step in the
canning operation is the removal of the heads and
shells. These are picked off by women and boys who
work at the picking tables. Many of the pickers are
very expert, being able to separate 250 or more
pounds of meat in a single day. The meat is care-
fully washed and then cooked for a short period,
after which it is cooled and packed into cans. Some
packers pack the shrimp dry, whereas others fill the
cans with weak brine. The filled cans are capped and
preserved by processing in retorts heated with steam
under pressure. Canned shrimp are commonly used
in places located some distance from markets where

276 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

fresh shrimp cannot be obtained for the preparation
of shrimp salad and other shrimp dishes.

The drying of shrimp is a much older industry,
but the product is not so generally used. Dry shrimps
are not as valuable as fresh or canned shrimp, so
that only the surplus shrimp and those which are too
small to be canned, or those which are caught far
from a canning factory, are preserved in this way.

Shrimp are dried on large wooden platforms
erected near the water's edge. Occasionally a single
platform is forty thousand square feet in area, hold-
ing a hundred thousand pounds of shrimp, but most
of them are much smaller. The floor of the platform
is gently undulating in an ocean- wave effect, with the
waves about two feet in height and thirty feet apart.

As the shrimp are unloaded they are washed in
dip-nets. They are then placed in large kettles filled
with boiling brine and boiled for half an hour, during
which they turn from colorless to bright red. When
sufficiently cooked, the shrimp are dipped from the
kettles into wheelbarrows, in which 'they are drained
and then transported to the drying platforms, where
they are spread out in layers two to three inches in
depth. The shrimp are turned by means of rakes
several times every day. At night, and whenever rain
threatens, the shrimps are pushed on to the ridges
in long windrows. An A-shaped truss is placed
astride each windrow, which is then covered with tar-
paulin to keep off rain and dew. Even though it
rains hard, the shrimp are not wet, since the water
all drains away from the ridges. When the shrimp
are thoroughly dry, they are pushed into large

LOBSTER, CRAB, AND SHRIMP 277

round piles. The next operation, the separation of
the meat from the shells, is carried out in a very in-
teresting manner. The workmen tie cloths around
their shoes and proceed to tramp the shrimp, going
round and round the piles in a slow trot, or
dance as it is called. This breaks off the heads, shells,
and legs from the meat. The shells and other inedible
parts are then separated from the meat by screening
through a coarse wire screen of about a quarter-inch
mesh. Since the dancing process does not detach all
of the shell from the meat, it is necessary to give
it a still further cleaning by placing it in sacks and
beating with boards, after which it is again sifted.
The product is then packed in large barrels.

Dried shrimp is sold mainly to the Latin and
Asiatic races. Much of it is exported to Central and
South America, Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Hawaiian
Islands. The shells and other inedible parts, com-
monly called shrimp bran, are packed in burlap bags
and sold to farmers, who use it either as stock feed or
fertilizer.

CHAPTER XV

Marine Turtles and Terrapins ^

OF all living animals none is quite so suggestive
of the large, clumsy, lumbering creatures of
prehistoric times as the turtles, terrapins,
and tortoises. Some of the turtles and tortoises still
attain a large size, for the leather-turtle reaches a
weight of more than a thousand pounds, and the
loggerhead and green turtles about half that weight.
The terrapins, however, are small, rarely exceeding a
weight of ten to fifteen pounds. In clumsiness and
awkwardness they are nevertheless quite the equal of
their larger relatives.

The turtles, terrapins, and tortoises differ from
all other living reptiles in possessing a hard shell
which forms a strong bony "house" in which they
live, and from which the head and limbs are extended
when they are moving about. It is indeed very con-
venient to have a house always present into which to
retreat when the day's work is done or when an
enemy is near. When danger is past and hunger calls,
it is necessary only to extend the head and legs, and
the hunt is on once more. These animals, as a result

' This section was prepared by Dr. Samuel F. Hildebrand, di-
rector of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries Biological Station, Beau-
fort, North Carolina.

278

MARINE TURTLES AND TERRAPINS 279

oi carrying a house, however, are obliged to sacrifice
looks, grace, and speed. Imagine for a moment a man
taking his liouse with him on all his wanderings !

The marine turtles and terrapins live in or near
the waters of the tropical or semi-tropical seas and
only occasionally stray to temperate waters. The
turtles are equipped with flippers, which are used
only for swimming, except about once a year when
the female comes ashore to deposit her eggs. The
terrapins, on the other hand, have feet with claws,
w^hich are not as well adapted to swimming as
flippers, but which are much more convenient for
walking, for these animals come ashore more fre-
quently and therefore have need for better walking
feet.

All marine turtles and terrapins come ashore one
or more times during the summer to lay their eggs. A
sandy beach is always selected for this purpose, and
the "nest," which consists of a hole dug into the
sand with the flippers or feet, is generally made at or
somewhat above high-water mark. When the eggs
have been deposited in the hole, the animals cover
them and carefully conceal the nests by walking over
and around them several times. Here the parental
care ends, for the mother never revisits her nest. The
heat of the sun incubates the eggs, and in a few
months they hatch. The young work their way out
of the sand and crawl away into a near-by marsh
or into the water. Because they are thrown on their
own resources at once, the loss among these young,
soft-shelled, clumsy, helpless creatures is probably

280 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

very great. Fortunately they can live for a long time
without eating, and should they not succeed in find-
ing food for a week or two, or even a month or two,
they apparently do not suffer greatly. Their chief
problem seemingly is to keep out of reach of enemies.

Turtles and terrapins are skilful in hiding their
nests. However, when the tracks are discovered by
men who make a practice of hunting the eggs of
turtles, they are able to locate the nests by probing
the sand with a cane until the place is found where it
is still loose, because it was dug up recently. Here
they dig down and gather the eggs. The egg hunters
are mainly responsible for the ever decreasing num-
bers of turtles found along our shores.

The green turtle is the only one of the turtles
whose flesh is extensively eaten. The loggerhead is
eaten by fishermen and others living on the sea-shore
where it is caught, though it is rarely shipped to the
larger markets. The meat of the hawk's-bill turtle is
rarely if ever eaten, but this animal furnishes the
valuable tortoise-shell of commerce. The marine
terrapins, that is, the diamond-backs, possess meat
which is unexcelled in flavor and has for many years
been a much prized delicacy of the connoisseur.

The Green Turtle and the Fishery It Supports

The green turtle is an inhabitant of tropical seas.
On the Atlantic coast of America it occasionally
strays north as far as Massachusetts. Because of the
demand for its flesh and eggs it has been over-
fished and the number now taken on our shores is
very small. At present the principal fisheries for the

MARINE TURTLES AND TERRAPINS 281

green turtle are in the West Indies and along the
coast of Central America.

Most of the turtles are caught with gill-nets. On
the shores of Costa Rica, however, they are caught
principally at night when they come ashore to lay
their eggs. The fishermen simply locate the animal
with lanterns, and then turn it on its back, thereby
rendering it helpless. Later a strong line with a
wooden float attached at one end is fastened to the
turtle's flippers. Then it is turned back on its belly
and allowed to scramble off into the water. The
animal, of course, heads for the open sea, but, be-
cause of the floats, it makes slow progress. Turtle
boats lie at a safe distance offshore, and when the
animals with the floats attached reach the water
where the boats can ply, the floats are picked up, and
the animals at the other end of the lines are hauled
aboard by means of block and tackle. This is a rather
ingenious way of getting the turtles, but also a de-
structive way, as many of the animals are caught
before they have had time to lay their eggs.

The principal market for green turtles is Key
West, Florida, where a cannery is located and where
pens of palmetto logs are provided. The turtles are
landed here by schooners, known as turtle boats, and
placed in the log pens, where they are held until the
operators of the cannery are ready to can them, or to
ship them to a more northern market. Although the
shell of the green turtle is smooth, and attractively
marked with brown, yellow, and white, it has prac-
tically no commercial value. This animal has only a
single claw on each flipper, whereas the loggerhead

282 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

and the hawk's-bill have two claws on each foot. The
fat of this turtle, greenish in color, gave the turtle
its name.

Turtles are always shipped alive and while on the
way are turned over on their backs. This may seem
rather cruel, but is necessary, since the animals die if
allowed to lie in the normal position, as the lower shell
is too weak to bear the great weight of the body,
and the pressure on the heart and lungs causes the
animals to die. At the cannery in Key West, the
turtles that are to be slaughtered are laid on the
dock on their backs. Then the heads and flippers are
severed with a sharp ax. Next the shells and entrails
are cut away with sharp knives. The flesh is washed
in sea-water and then taken to the cannery, where
it is hung up to drain until the next day, when it is
canned.

The females contain eggs during May, June, and
July, and their value is greatly increased at that
time, as the eggs are locally much in demand. A
female contains from six to thirty pounds of eggs.
The small, yellow, immature eggs are especially well
liked and generally bring around sixty cents a
pound, whereas the white or mature eggs sell at
approximately twenty-five cents a dozen. The mature
eggs are about as large as a golf ball and are
covered with strong paTchment-like skin which is
rather difficult to break.

The Hawk's-Bill and Other Turtles

The tortoise-shell that is used for fancy combs,
brushes, and other articles is derived from the shields

MARINE TURTLES AND TERRAPINS 283

of the upper shell of the hawk's-bill turtle. This is
the smallest of the marine turtles, the lower shell
rarely reaching a length of more than thirty inches.
It is easily distinguished from other marine turtles
by the rough appearance of the upper shell, whose
shields overlap like shingles in a roof. This turtle
lives in nearly all tropical and semi-tropical seas.
It occurs on the Florida and Gulf coasts of the
United States and occasionally strays northward as
far as Massachusetts. It is hunted everywhere. The
principal fisheries for the hawk's-bill in the New
World are along the coasts of tropical America and
in some of the larger islands. The bony shields are
removed by the application of heat. This method fre-
quently is used on live animals by the fishermen,
whose belief it is that the turtles will grow new
shields. At least some of the animals survive the
ordeal, but authorities who have studied the question
have declared that new shields are not developed. The
tortoise-shell is a horny, flexible, semi-transparent
substance, beautifully mottled, and dark brown to
light yellow in color. By the application of heat and
pressure the shields may be flattened, molded, or
welded. Tortoise-shell has been highly prized for
ornamental purposes since early times. It was one of
the treasures of the Far East brought to Rome
through Egypt. In the manufacture of various decor-
ative articles, designs are frequently carved into the
shell and then inlaid with gold and other precious
metals. A high polish adds much to the attractiveness
of the articles made from tortoise-shell. In some of
the Central American countries, where many articles

284 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

are made entirely by hand, the polish is produced by
the use of rough leaves from native trees. This pro-
cess, though slow, produces a beautiful lustrous
finish. The horny shields of other turtles are some-
times used as tortoise-shell, but they are either
opaque, or soft and leathery, and therefore poor
imitations.

The loggerhead turtle, which has already been
mentioned, is a carnivorous reptile, feeding largely
on fish. It reaches a large size; individuals with
a shell three and a half feet long and a weight
of five hundred pounds have been reported. The
loggerhead also inhabits warm seas and is common as
far north as North Carolina and ranges even to
Massachusetts. It is of limited value, for as has
already been stated, its meat is not extensively
shipped to the larger markets, although it is eaten by
people living along the sea-shore. Its eggs are quite
extensively sought and are sold locally. The upper
sliell is brownish and the lower one yellowish. The
shields of the upper sliell are opaque and of little
or no value.

Kemp's turtle, also known as hawk's-bill in some
regions, is one of the smaller turtles. It inhabits the
Gulf of Mexico and ranges northward to New Jersey.
Its meat is considered superior to that of the logger-
head by many persons, but its commercial value is
only slight.

The largest of all turtles is the luth or leathery
turtle, most common in tropical seas and ranging
northward on our coast to Maine. It reaches a length
of eight feet and a weight of a thousand to sixteen

MARINE TURTLES AND TERRAPINS. 285

hundred pounds. It gets its name from the leathery
appearance of its skin, which is bare of the horny
shields found on other marine turtles. This huge
reptile has no commercial value, for its flesh is unfit
for food, and its covering worthless.

Diamond-Back Terrapins

The diamond-back terrapins are the smallest of the
group of animals discussed in this chapter, for they
seldom exceed a length of seven and a half to eight
inches on the median line of the lower shell. (This
measurement is given, because it is the only one used
in determining the value of diamond-back terrapins
on the market.) Although the smallest of the group,
they are nevertheless by far the most valuable
economically, for, as has already been mentioned,
their flesh is unexcelled in flavor and is in very
great demand.

The great demand and the fancy prices paid for
diamond-back terrapins has led to over-fishing, wath
the result that these animals have become very scarce
in many localities where they once were plentiful. A
quarter of a century or so ago Chesapeake Bay and
North Carolina were the centers of the terrapin in-
dustry. The Chesapeake supply is practically ex-
hausted, and the Fish Commission of North Carolina
is making a desperate effort, first to save what is left
of a once plentiful supply, then to rebuild the fishery
by prohibiting the sale of the animals for a period of
five years, and furthermore to restock the waters
through artificial culture. Because of the scarcity
of the Chesapeake and Carolina terrapins, the more

286 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

southern varieties, although regarded as inferior,
have come into demand, and at present the principal
supply comes from the Gulf States.

Because of the great decline and the threatened
extinction of this valuable animal, which often brings
as much as six dollars a head on the market, the
United States Bureau of Fisheries at its Biological
Station at Beaufort, North Carolina, several years
ago undertook extensive studies of the habits and re-
quirements of terrapins. It has been found from
these studies that terrapins may be hatched and
grown in captivity nearly as easily and successfully
as chickens. It is believed by the investigators of the
Bureau of Fisheries that terrapin "farming" could
be made a profitable business. It is thought, further-
more, from the evidence which has been obtained,
that the natural waters may be repopulated through
artificial culture. To this end the Fish Commission
of North Carolina is now cooperating with the
United States Bureau of Fisheries. As a first step it
is planned to hatch and to liberate young terrapins
in the salt marshes of the sounds of North Carolina.
This work has already been begun ; and several thou-
sand young animals which had been held in captivity
until they had attained a considerable size, have been
liberated.

Adult terrapins to be used in artificial culture are
confined in concrete inclosures on gently sloping
shores of sand or sand and clay. The pounds are so
constructed that a part of the inclosure is dry all
of the time, while a part always holds some water.
In the highest part of the pound there is built a

MARINE TURTLES AND TERRAPINS 287

sand-bed, which should be above high-water mark.
When laying time comes, early in the summer (late
in May, through June, and most of July), the
females crawl into the sand-bed and scoop out a jug-
shaped hole, about six inches deep and three inches
in diameter, using their hind feet. The animals
then back into the hole as far as they can, lay the
eggs, and cover them. When the hole is partly or
nearly filled, the animal packs the sand by raising
itself on its feet and then coming down with its full
weight, striking the sand with its lower shell. After
the hole has been refilled, the animal walks back and
forth over the nest and around it several times, there-
by concealing it so effectually that the exact spot is
difficult to find. Then, instead of walking away in
the usual manner, the terrapin walks high on its feet
so that the shell w ill not drag and leave a conspicuous
track. Diamond-back terrapins generally lay twice
during one summer; some animals lay three times,
and unusually healthy young females may even lay
four times. Ordinarily about eight eggs are laid at a
time.

The eggs are allowed to remain in the sand and
hatch by the heat of the sun. Some of the young dig
their way out of the sand soon after hatching ; others
do not emerge until spring. At Beaufort they are
not allowed to remain in the sand through the winter,
for the egg beds are dug over each fall, and all the
young are removed, either to be placed in a nursery
house to be fed during the winter, or to be placed
in a safe place to hibernate.

A nursery house, modeled somewhat after the type

288 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

of hothouse generally used by florists, has been con-
structed at Beaufort. Young animals are placed in
tanks inside the house, kept at a temperature of
eighty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit. When kept
warm, the young animals feed all winter, with the
result that a year's growth is gained by the terrapins
during their first winter. The winter feeding of older
animals has not yielded practical results.

Diamond-back terrapins grow slowly. Only a
few reach a marketable size and sexual maturity in
five years; others require twice or even three times
as long to mature. How great an age a terrapin may
reach is not yet known. Some of the wild terrapins
confined in pounds at Beaufort have been held since
1902, others since 1909, and still others since 1911.
No disease has ever occurred among them, and about
ninety-five per cent of them are still living in 1927
and producing eggs. Slow growth offers the greatest
obstacle in practical terrapin farming. This is largely
offset, however, by the small amount of care the
animals require and the very low cost for food.
Records have been kept at Beaufort showing that
food costs around six cents a head per year for adults
and three mills a head for very young animals.

The terrapin fishery, because of the scarcity of
the animals, is of comparatively little importance,
and only a relatively few men engage in terrapin
fishing as a part-time occupation. The animals are
sometimes seen swimming or crawling about in the
marshes and are caught with dip-nets. Others are
taken in drag-nets that are hauled principally for
fish. Sometimes nets are stretched across the lower

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MARINE TURTLES AND TERRAPINS 289

part of tide streams, while the men rout the terrapin
out farther up-stream and drive them toward the
net, in which they become entangled. A common
method of fishing, and a particularly destructive
one, is followed at low tide by men who wade in the
mud and feel with their feet and with sticks for
partly buried animals. Formerly, when terrapins
were more plentiful, large catches were often made in
this way in the autumn, when the animals had be-
come sluggish from the cold ; and this, probably more
than anything else, caused the rapid decline in the
abundance of terrapins.

Diamond-back terrapins, like turtles, are shipped
to market alive, and, as the animals will stand much
abuse, they are generally packed for shipment in
barrels, bags, or deep boxes like so many potatoes.
The principal markets for diamond-back terrapins
are the big Eastern cities, where most of the animals
are used in high-class hotels and restaurants.

CHAPTER XVI

Whales and Whaling

THE capture of whales and the manufacture of
whale products played an important part in
our colonial history. In the seventeenth cen-
tury whales must have been very plentiful along the
New England coast, for whale carcasses were often
washed ashore. Disputes concerning the ownership
of drift whales were common. The colonists had not
yet learned to capture whales at sea, and they con-
fined their efforts to the capture of the small whales
which could be caught offshore. In calm weather the
fishermen would sometimes venture in their open
boats nearly out of sight of land in their search for
whales.

Early in the eighteenth century, the whalers began
to sail farther from shore, until by the middle of the
century, when the New Bedford and Nantucket
whaling industries were well established,- these hardy
sailors were, as Burke told the English Parliament,
sailing from pole to pole in quest of whales. From
then on the industry grew rapidly until it reached
its zenith in 1850. In that year 736 vessels, hailing
from a dozen or more New England ports, returned
with 14,744 barrels of sperm-oil, 39,215 barrels of
whale-oil, and 894,700 pounds of whalebone. Nearly

290

WHALES AND WHALING 291

half of these ships sailed from New Bedford, which
was then enjoying a period of great prosperity.

From the small sloops of early days the vessels
were gradually increased in size until large barks,
ships, and brigs were fitted out for cruises of a year
or more in duration. In those days, the whalers must
have had indomitable courage and reckless daring to
enable them to carry on through the grave dangers,
unspeakable hardships, and heartbreaking labor
which came all in their day's work.

The methods of capturing whales were much more
primitive than those that are now employed. In those
days the whalers sailed hither and yon in their large
barks or ships until a whale was sighted. Then the
most active men of the crew set out in small boats
and followed the whale until they caught up with it.
This was not so easy as it sounds, for the whales
swim mostly under water at considerable depths. A
whale comes up to blow, exhales the foul air, breathes
deeply several times, then sinks far below the surface
where he cannot be seen and swims elsewhere in
search of food. Meanwhile the whalers could only
guess which way and how far the whale would go. If
the whalers guessed correctly where the whale would
come up, they would be close enough to hurl a har-
poon into its enormous hulk. Occasionally the whale
rose directly under the small boat, smashing it to
pieces and throwing the occupants into the icy water.
The harpoon seldom seriously injured the whale, but
enabled the whalers to retain hold of the whale by
means of a rope attached both to the harpoon and
the boat. Often the whale would swim away and tow

292 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

the boat for miles before the whalers could get close
enough to lance their quarry. Sometimes the whale
would sink so deep that the rope would all be run
out, and the boat would be in danger of being pulled
under. Then the rope would have to be cut, and the
chase begun again. Even after the whale was killed
with the lance it would occasionally sink and be lost
before it could be brought to the schooner. Such a
chase involved a multitude of dangers. Probably it
was the most dangerous occupation of the eighteenth
century.

Each ship was a floating factory; as soon as a
whale had been killed, it was towed to the ship and
made fast to the side by means of a chain around the
narrow portion of the body next to the tail. Then
the work of cutting up the whale and hoisting the
valuable parts of the carcass aboard was begun.

As fast as. the blubber was taken from the whale it
was hauled aboard and lowered into the hatch, where
it was cut into chunks of about a cubic foot. These
horse-pieces were then minced into small bits which
were rendered in the kettles placed on brick fireplaces
near the foremast. The heat caused the separation of
the oil, which was ladled out into a cooler and then
placed in casks. The fires were fed by the scraps or
cracklings left in the kettles after oil had been ren-
dered. This work was continued night and day until
all the whale had been worked up. At night, pieces of
blubber were burned in an open iron frame, lighting
the scene with a weird glare.

Oil, whalebone, and ambergris were all that were
prepared from the whales in those days. The bones

WHALES AND WHALING 293

and flesh were not utilized. The spermaceti was not
separated from the sperm oil on board the whaler,
but the crude oil was taken to the home port, where
it was refined in a sperm-oil factory.

In 1850, when oil was worth more than a dollar a
gallon, voyages yielding three thousand barrels of oil
worth a hundred thousand dollars or more were not
uncommon. Under those conditions many fortunes
were made in whaling. New Bedford, Nantucket, and
the other whaling ports enjoyed prosperity hitherto
unknown.

During the Civil War the New England whaling
industry received a blow from which it never re-
covered. Many w^halers were either burned or seized
as prizes by the Confederates, and, in addition,
about forty of the whale-ships were purchased by the
federal government for use as war-ships. Many
whalemen, besides, joined the navy and aided the
Northern cause.

Later, with the general introduction of kerosene,
whale oil, sperm oil, and spermaceti were no longer
absolute necessities and soon rapidly dropped in
price, with the result that the whaling business
slumped still more.

Modern Whaling

The invention of the harpoon gun by Svend
Foyn in 1864 completely revolutionized the industry,
however. While modern whaling still offers many
thrills, it is not nearly so dangerous as formerly, for
the whaler does not chase the whales in frail row-
boats but remains secure in a much larger craft pro-

294 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

pelled by steam. The steamer is armed with a small
cannon, called a harpoon gun, with which a large
harpoon is shot into the whale. The harpoon, which
usually weighs a little more than a hundred pounds,
has a cast-iron head or shell filled with powder. This
is exploded by a time fuse about three seconds after
the harpoon has left the cannon. Attached to the
harpoon is a rope which is also fixed to the boat.
When the harpoon is in the gun, forty to sixty
fathoms of the rope are coiled on a pan under the
gun. This acts as slack when the harpoon is fired
through the air. The harpoon has four prongs which
fold up behind the shell, but which spring out at
right angles to the harpoon when the line is tight-
ened after the whale is harpooned.

Do not go whaling unless you are a very good
sailor, or you will be more seasick than you ever were
before. For the whalers are so designed that they can
turn easily ; on this account they roll and pitch worse
than a destroyer. The steamships are fast enough to
keep up with any whale, for all species are sought.
Before the day of steamers and harpoon guns, only
the more sluggish whales were hunted. The giant blue
or sulphur-bottom whale was too fast and too vicious
for the men in small boats. For this reason more of
these large whales are living to-day than of any other
species. Some species of whales, as the right whale
and the sperm-whale, which have been hunted for
several centuries, are now nearly extinct.

Most of the whalers operate from a whaling station
located near the whaling grounds. When a whale is
captured it is inflated with compressed air, marked

WHALES AND WHALING 295

with a flag, and allowed to float until the whaler has
captured sufficient whales. Then the ship collects the
whales which have been previously taken and tows
them to the whaling station, where they are con-
verted into whalebone, oil, and meal.

A few large ships, which are in reality floating
whaling stations, still sail great distances in search
of whales, returning with a cargo of whale oil, meal,
and whalebone. Small steamers resembling tugboats
act as tenders for these large whalers, capturing the
whales and bringing them to the mother ship, where
the blubber is cut off and rendered into oil. The meat
and bones are cooked, dried, and ground into meal
and fertilizer.

The steamer Folk, which sailed into New York not
long ago with nineteen thousand barrels of oil aboard,
is one of these floating whaling stations, which resem-
ble in many respects the old-time whaling vessels.
This Norwegian ship had captured three hundred
whales and rendered their blubber into oil while on an
eight months' cruise in the vicinity of the South
Shetland Islands.

There are very few whales left in the North
Atlantic Ocean or in the North Sea. The great whal-
ing grounds lie far to the south in the neighborhood
of the subantarctic islands, known as the South
Shetlands, South Orkneys, and Falklands. American
whalers seldom visit this region, the Norwegians now
taking most of the whales. The few American whalers
that still search for the largest game in existence now
sail either from California or Alaska, visiting the
various whaling grounds of the North Pacific.

296 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Whales Are Mammals

A school of whales playing at sea is a thrilling
sight that one never forgets. At a distance, about all
that can be seen is a black hulk or two, with occa-
sional spouting here and there. But, if one is
fortunate enough to be close at hand when the whales
are spouting, the sight is thrilling. Can you imagine
an animal seventy-five feet long and ten feet wide,
with lungs big enough to exhale a cloud of vapor .'^
Many persons not familiar with the whale think that
it spouts water. Unless you are lucky enough to get
close to it you cannot see that the "spout" is really
condensing vapor. The whale takes a very deep
breath and then sinks below the surface, swimming
hither and thither in search of food. During sub-
mersion, the air in the lungs becomes warm because
of the heat of the whale's body, and likewise satur-
ated with water-vapor from the moisture in the
lungs. When the whale comes to the surface to ex-
hale, he blows a large volume of this warm moisture-
laden air into the much cooler atmosphere. This
causes the moisture to condense in fine droplets, giv-
ing the appearance of a spray of water.

In many respects the whale is the most interesting
and wonderful of all living creatures. Although it
looks like a fish because it is adapted to live in the
sea, it is really a mammal and resembles a cow more
than a fish. In the illustrations you see that whales
are fish-like in form, with an enormous head and
almost no neck at all. They have very large mouths
which make them look rather ferocious, but you

WHALES AND WHALING 297

need not worry about being attacked by a whale, for
only one rare species, called the killer whale, ever
eats warm-blooded animals. Most whales live on
little shrimp and cuttlefish, which they strain from
the water by means of the whalebone attached to
their upper jaw. Their throats are so small that
they cannot swallow any animal as large as a man.
Two common species of whale, the sperm and the
white whale, have teeth instead of whalebone.

Their skin is smooth and slick, having no hair or
scales. Immediately beneath the skin is a thick layer
of fat called blubber. This fat, being a poor con-
ductor, serves to retain the heat of the body, and
thus enables the huge warm-blooded animals to keep
warm in the icy waters of the temperate and frigid
zones.

The whale has gradually developed from a
creature having legs. The flippers of the whale are
in fact fore limbs functionally reduced to mere pad-
dles with no power of motion except at the shoulder-
joint, although they have all the bones, joints, and
even most of the muscles of the human hand and
arm.

They swim mainly by means of the tail, which
differs from that of most fishes, being expanded hori-
zontally in order to facilitate their continual up-
ward and downward motion. Nature has placed the
whale's nose on the top of his head, where he can
breathe easily without shoving his head out of the
water.

Young whales are much larger than any other
babies, often weighing 16,000 to 20,000 pounds.

298 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

They are so large that twins wre seldom born.
Mother whales nurse their young at sea, but few
persons have ever seen this interesting sight.

There are more than thirty known species of
whales, not counting the many related species of
sea mammals such as porpoises and dolphins, but
only seven species are of commercial importance.
The sperm-whale, the North Atlantic right whale,
and the bow-head or Greenland right whale have long
been considered the most important. But since, whale
meal and other products have become of consider-
able value, the humpback, the sulphur-bottom or
blue whale, the sei whale, and the finback have come
to possess great value.

Of these the sulphur-bottom or blue whale is the
largest. Indeed this whale is not only the largest
animal that lives to-day, but is also the largest
animal that ever lived. Contrary to the general be-
lief, the gigantic lizards called dinosaurs, which
formerly inhabited the swamps and rivers of the
western part of North America, were neither so long
nor so heavy as the blue whale. The largest authen-
tic specimen of blue whale that has been measured
was eighty-seven feet in length and weighed about
seventy-five tons. This whale is found in almost all
seas, and is now captured in larger numbers than
any other whale. About two thousand of these
whales are taken each year in the vicinity of the
Falkland Islands. The blue whale belongs to the
whalebone class, but the whalebone taken from its
jaw is short and of little value.

WHALES AND WHALING 299

The North Atlantic right whale, sometimes called
the black whale because of its color, is somewhat
smaller, seldom exceeding fifty feet in length. Its
head is about a quarter of its whole length. The
right whale is so named because it is a valuable
whale and, in the early days of the industry, was
considered the right one to capture. The bow-head,
or Greenland right whale, has an enormous head
and yields excellent whalebone sometimes fifteen
feet in length. This whale is somewhat larger than
the right whale, often attaining sixty feet in length.
The humpback whale, the principal species taken
on the coast of California, is also found in nearly
all of the seas, being especially common in the
South Atlantic, off the coasts of South America and
Africa. It usually attains a length of fifty feet;
it is short and thick and has a large head with a
flat forehead. The finback whale is taken in large
numbers in the vicinity of the Falkland and South
Orkney Islands. It is sometimes called the razor-
back because of its slender form. It is one of the
largest whales, averaging more than sixty feet and
sometimes attaining eighty feet in length.

The sei whale was formerly thought to be the
young of the blue whale. "Sei" means black cod in
Finnish. The name is given to it because it arrives
on the coast of Finland at the same time as the
black cod. When whaling was confined chiefly to the
North Atlantic, the sei was thought to be rare,
but since whaling has been extended to all parts of
the sea, many of these whales have been taken in all
the seas. The sei whale is relatively small and is

300 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

therefore not hunted as extensively as the larger,
more valuable species.

The only toothed whale considered of much im-
portance commercially is the sperm-whale, which
is one of the strangest of whales. On each side of
the lower jaw it has eighteen to twenty-five massive
teeth, which fit into sockets in the upper jaw. The
upper teeth are seldom well developed. It feeds on
giant squid and cuttlefish, which are usually found
in warm currents. Sometimes this large-toothed
whale eats sharks and other fishes and large spiny
lobsters. This whale is much more ferocious than
any of the whalebone whales and occasionally
attacks its pursuers, destroying small boats with
smashing blows from its powerful tail. Bull sperm-
whales attain great size; specimens seventy feet
long and weighing about eighty tons are sometimes
captured. Its head is enormous, being one third of
its total length, and contains an immense tank filled
with a liquid wax known as spermaceti. The wax is
obtained by cutting an opening in the head-case
and dipping out the ten or fifteen barrels of oil that
it contains. When freshly taken, the spermaceti is
liquid; but on standing, it congeals and after refin-
ing becomes the spermaceti of commerce.

The Manufacture of Whale Products

The first step in the manufacturing process is
that of butchering, or "cutting in" as it is called.
This operation was formerly accomplished under
the most trying circumstances; the whalers had to
work at sea while the whale was floating in the

WHALES AND WHALING 801

water lashed to the side of the vessel. As has been
previously explained, the modern whaler tows his
catch to a whaling station, where the whale is slowly
hauled up on the flensing-slip by means of a steam
winch. The blubber, which lies just 'under the skin,
is first stripped off in long strips and ^cut up into
small pieces. The head is chopped off and 'the whole
of the meat stripped off in four huge pieces. Finally
the bones are cut up and hoisted to huge boilers.

In Japan, Norway, and certain other countries
where beef is scarce, fresh whale meat is generally
eaten. During the World War some whale meat was
used in the United States and Canada as a substi-
tute for beef and mutton. Most 'of the fresh whale
meat was marketed in the large cities of the Pacific
coast, although some was sold in New York and
other Eastern cities. It even found its way to the
tables of some of the large hotels, but it was more of
a curiosity than a staple article of diet.

Whale meat is prepared for market by cutting
the enormous strips of meat into chunks weighing
about forty-five pounds each, which are then chilled
and packed into boxes. Some whale meat is canned
in much the same way as beef, and some is salted.
Pickled whale tails are an Oriental delicacy and
command a high price. Many whale tails are pickled
in salt brine on the Pacific coast of the United
States and exported to Japan.

Whale steak is similar in appearance to beef,
although it is darker and somewhat coarser grained.
Its taste resembles that of venison, although it
would not be mistaken for it. The meat of the

302 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

humpback is the best for eating, though the fin-
back, sei, and California gray whales yield excellent
meat. About six tons of edible meat are obtained
from an average-sized humpback; a fin-back fur-
nishes somewhat more, and a sei whale somewhat
less. Whale meat should be cooked slowly with moist
heat. Roasts, pot-roasts, and steaks are the most
popular whale dishes.

When whales are taken far at sea or in a region
where whale meat is not eaten, the flesh is converted
into scrap, which is commonly used as stock feed,
but it is also mixed with other plant nutrients and
used as fertilizer. The process used in the manu-
facture of scrap is similar to the process employed
in the preparation of fish meal, except that much
more cooking is required. The meat is cut into small
pieces and placed in a pressure cooker, where it is
cooked for about ten hours with steam under about
forty pounds pressure. After the water and oil have
been drawn off, the cooked meat is pressed, usually
in hydrauhc presses, until most of the water has
been forced out. The pressed scrap is thoroughly
dried in rotary hot-air driers, and then is finely
ground and sacked for shipment.

No part of the whale is wasted. The tongue and
kidney fat are cooked with the blubber, thus ren-
dering the oil. The viscera are cooked, pressed,
dried, and then ground into fertilizer. The bones,
which are spongy and contain much oil, are cut up
and then cooked under steam pressure. Pressure
cooking extracts the oil, which is then run off and
separated from the water. The steamed bones, after

WHALES AND WHALING 303

being dried in the same type of drier that is used
for drying the scrap, are finely ground, thus pro-
ducing bone meal which is extensively used as a
fertilizer. Whale bone meal furnishes the crops
with phosphorus and nitrogen, two plant nutrients
that are often deficient in soils.

The most valuable product obtained from the
whale is the oil, which has a multitude of uses. The
oil rendered from the blubber of whalebone whales
is a liquid fat known as whale oil; the sperm-whale
yields a liquid wax known as sperm oil. Whale oil
is now steam rendered and is a product far superior
to the oil made by boiling the blubber in open
kettles. Fresh steam-rendered oil is light in color
and does not possess an unpleasant odor, whereas
the oil heated in kettles over open fires is dark in
color and foul in odor. Whale oil is similar in
composition and properties to the slow-drying fish
and fish-liver oils. Much stearin may be separated
by cooling and racking the oil. The stearin is
largely used in the finishing of leather. Whale oil
itself is also extensively used in the tanning and
finishing of leather.

The chemist has done much to aid the whaling in-
dustry. For even the darkest, foul-smelling oil may
now be converted by treatment with hydrogen into a
colorless, odorless, solid fat, suitable for the manu-
facture of high-grade soaps. These hardened fats are
so white and sweet that they are used in Europe as
lard substitutes. Hydrogenated whale oil may be
made so hard that it can be molded into candles, and
much of it is used for this purpose.

304 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

Sperm oil is rendered from the blubber of the
sperm-whale in much the same way as whale oil is ob-
tained from the blubber of the baleen or whalebone
whales. When crude sperm oil is chilled, spermaceti
separates out as a solid wax, and is filtered off. Sperm
oil is more valuable than whale oil, as it is a wax.
It absorbs very little oxygen from the atmosphere and
therefore does not thicken when exposed to the air.
When cooled, it becomes slightly more viscous but
still retains its lubricating power. On account of these
properties, it is a valuable lubricant for many kinds
of machinery.

Several cosmetics are prepared from certain whale
products. Crude spermaceti, obtained from crude
sperm oil, is refined by melting and heating with a
dilute caustic soda solution. After the caustic has
been washed out, the wax is run into molds. When
cold, the cakes are pulverized and pressed. Refined
spermaceti is a very beautiful wax, being a white,
lustrous, translucent, crystalline substance. It is
tasteless and odorless and so brittle that it can be
rubbed into powder between the fingers. Its most im-
portant use is in the preparation of face-creams of
the cold cream type. These creams are made by pre-
paring an emulsion of spermaceti and other waxes in
perfumed glycerin. Much glycerin is also prepared
from whale oil as a by-product of the manufacture
of soap. Glycerin is used as the base of many cos-
metics. Shaving and other lotions, shaving soaps of
all kinds, vanishing creams, beauty creams, trans-
parent soaps, tooth-pastes, and many other toilet
preparations contain varying amounts of glycerin.

c
o

JO

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s:

<
C5

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^

^

Courtesy of Underwood & Underwood, N. Y.

whale's jaw split to show whalebone

The whalebone enables the whale to strain out of the water the
little shrimp and cuttlefish upon which he feeds

Courtesy of M. P. Greenwood Adams

DUGONGS CAPTURED IN AUSTRALIA

Australian dug:onp:s are hunted for the oil and hides which they

yield

WHALES AND WHALING 305

Ambergris, the most valuable whale product, is
obtained from the intestines of the sperm-whale. The
real nature and origin of ambergris is somewhat in
doubt. It is usually taken from sick whales but is
sometimes found floating on the sea or washed upon
the shore. Some scientists have assumed that the wax
is the indigestible portion of the devil-fish, or cuttle-
fish, which comprises a large part of the food of the
sperm-whale. Tliis theory is strengthened by the fact
that the small bones of the cuttlefish are found in
ambergris. This waxy substance is often worth its
weight in gold. Gray ambergris is much more valu-
able than the black product. Ambergris is also used
in the preparation of a toilet article, for its prin-
cipal use is as a fixative in fine perfumes. Its odor is
often bad, but it holds the perfumes as no other sub-
stance does. Ambergris has had many other curious
uses. Formerly it was supposed to possess wonderful
medicinal properties. The Asiatics have used it as a
spice in cooking; pilgrims who traveled to Mecca
sometimes brought it as an offering.

Contrary to what one might think, whalebone is
not the bone of whales, but is the strainer-like
appendage attached to each side of the upper jaw of
the whalebone whales. The baleen or whalebone con-
sists of two parallel rows of thin horny plates which
hang from the roof of the mouth. Each plate is
roughly triangular, wide at the base and narrow at
the tip. The inner edges are frayed out into long
fibers or hair-like bristles, forming a thick mat inside
the mouth, which strains out of the water the small
shrimps and other animals upon which the baleen

306 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

whales feed. Whalebone is similar in composition to
hair, finger-nails, and toe-nails, consisting of kera-
tin; on this account, whalebone is very strong and
flexible.

The baleen obtained from the Greenland right
whale is of better quality than is obtained from any
other species, as it is very long, sometimes as much
as fifteen feet. An average-sized whale of this species
yields a ton of whalebone. Formerly baleen sold at
four to five dollars a pound, and thus these whales
yielded about ten thousand dollars' worth. The other
right whales and the humpback also yield valuable
whalebone. The whalebone obtained from the blue,
finback, sei, bottle-nosed, and California gray whale
is short and of relatively little value.

After the whalebone has been removed from the
jaw, it is separated into pieces containing three to
six slabs each, and freed from flesh and blubber. It
is then washed with salt water and thoroughly dried.
The dried product is shipped to factories, where it is
manufactured into useful articles. Its great value lies
in its lightness, elasticity, flexibility, and its property
of permanently retaining any shape that may be
given it when it is heated and then cooled under pres-
sure. The most important uses of whalebone are for
the manufacture of corset and dress stays and whips.
The Japanese are unusually clever at working whale-
bone, and make cigar and cigarette cases, sandals,
and many other novelties from it. For such articles
they are able to utilize the short, lower grades such
as are obtained from the finback and blue whales.

WHALES AND WHALING 307

Dolphins, Porpoises, Blackfish, and Dugongs

Many other marine mammals yield oils of commer-
cial value. The most important of these are dolphins,
porpoises, blackfish, manatees, and dugongs. The oil
obtained from the jaws of these animals is the most
valuable oil known and is used chiefly for the lubri-
cation of fine machinery such as watches, clocks,
and typewriters.

Porpoises and dolphins are curious animals about
which many legends have grown. These sea-pigs, as
they are often called, are playful, sometimes gambol-
ing about in shallow water close to the shore. Divers
fishing for pearls, sponges, or coral look on them
with much favor, as their presence is a favorable
omen indicative of the absence of sharks. Manatees
and dugongs are even more interesting than por-
poises. These animals, often called sea-cows or cow-
fish, are rather sluggish mammals which live prin-
cipally on sea grasses and algae. Dugongs are found
on the coasts of northern and western Australia, in
many parts of the Indian Ocean, and in the Red Sea.
Manatees are seldom found on the open coast but
hug river estuaries and even travel many miles up
large rivers such as the Amazon. At times porpoises
and other mammals of related species are taken in
considerable numbers off the North Carolina and
Massachusetts coasts. A regular fishery for por-
poises is carried on in Finmark each year from Sep-
tember to March. Many dugongs are taken on the
western coast of Australia.

The jaw-oil of these animals is prepared by cook-

308 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

ing with water the fat obtained from the jaws; only
about half a pint is obtained from each animal. The
ordinary porpoise oil and dolphin oil is prepared by
heating the minced blubber from the bodies of these
animals in a try-pot over a fire or by cooking it with
water. The oil obtained in this manner resembles
whale oil in many respects and is used for the same
purposes.

The ancient Jewish Tabernacle in Jerusalem is
said to have been roofed with the skins of dugongs
caught in the Red Sea. Dugong leather still finds a
limited use in the industries of regions where they
are captured. This use has already been considered.

CHAPTER XVII

The Fur- Seal Industry

ENWRAPPED in constant sea mists, which
hitherto had concealed them, the breeding
grounds of the Alaskan fur-seal were finally
discovered in 1786 by a patient and persistent fur
hunter, Gerassim Pribilof, after whom the group of
four islands is named. The first sight of these small
barren islands nearly covered with millions of fur-
seals must have brought a great thrill to Pribilof.
At that time the value of seal skins was not generally
recognized ; only the Chinese utilized them, and they
did not use the fur as we do now, but plucked out the
long silky hairs.

At the time of the purchase of Alaska by the
United States, more than two million seals inhabited
the islands. For the next forty years, sealing priv-
ileges were granted to lessee companies, which took
more than two million skins. Because of the reckless
slaughter of the seals by the companies, and by the
sealers hunting on the open waters of the ocean,
who shot many seals which sank and therefore could
not be recovered, the seal herd was seriously reduced.
In 1910 the United States government undertook
to manage the seal rookeries, giving control to the

Bureau of Fisheries. Pelagic sealing was stopped in

309

310 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

1911 by an international agreement between Great
Britain, Japan, Russia, and the United States.
According to the present practice, only the surplus
young male seals are killed for fur, and the older
bulls and the females are carefully protected. By this
method the number of seals has been increased from
132,000 in 1910 to more than 700,000 at present.
During this period about sixty-five million dollars'
worth of pelts has been taken. As the seal herd
grows in size, more and more seals may be killed.
Thus protection has not only proved to be the means
of saving the seals, but it has also been very
profitable.

A century ago fur-seals were found in great num-
bers on nearly all the islands on the west coast of
South America, from Cape Horn to the Equator.
Many were also found on the South Shetlands, the
Falkland group, the South Georgia Islands, and the
Sandwich group. Fur-seals were also eagerly hunted
on Kerguelen Land, the Aucklands, the Antipodes,
the Crozet group, and other islands in this vicinity.

Everywhere the slaughter was so indiscriminate
and reckless that the seals were rapidly exterminated.
Now only a few seals are to be found in the Southern
Hemisphere. The only important herd is the one on
Lobos Island in the mouth of the La Plata River,
which has been protected for a number of years by
Uruguay.

In addition to the rookeries on the Pribilof Islands,
there are two other important breeding grounds in
the Northern Hemisphere. Japan has a small herd of
about twenty thousand seals on Robben Island, and

THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY 811

Russia has one of about the same size on the Com-
mander Islands. These rookeries are now carefully
protected and may increase in size.

Family Life of the FuR-SEAii

Fur-seals are curious gregarious animals. During
the winter they migrate at sea to warmer waters. As
the breeding season approaches, the males arrive
first and take up definite stations, which they hold
and protect. The younger males are not allowed to
come upon the breeding grounds but are driven aside
to form colonies of their own. During the time that
the bulls, as the mature males are called, are on
land, they neither eat nor drink, and their sleep is
limited to a few minutes at a time. During this long
period, usually about four months, they are sus-
tained by a thick layer of fat or blubber, which is
stored up during their migrations.

The cows, as the female seals are called, come
ashore a short time before their young are born.
Each bull keeps from one to seventy-five cows in his
harem, zealously guarding them and their pups day
and night lest some other bull take some of them
away from him. Being several times the size of the
cows, the bull has little trouble in keeping them to-
gether. The number of cows to the harem depends
upon the location of the harem in the rookery and
the size and age of the bull. The older and stronger
bulls close to the water have larger harems than the
young bulls on the edge of the breeding grounds.

A female seal produces her first offspring in her
third year. But a single pup is born annually. The

312 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

new-born pup is jet black in color and weighs about
ten pounds. At first the mother is careful to keep
her pup out of the way of the fighting bulls ; but as
the pup grows older she pays much less attention to
it, allowing it to shift for itself for the most part.

When the pups are about six weeks old, they learn
to swim, and as the summer progresses they swim
farther and farther out; in October they swim in
schools completely around the islands. But they
always return to the rookery to nurse their mothers.
Seal milk must be very rich, for, although the pups
eat nothing else, they grow very fast, gaining about
ten pounds a month. By the first of October, their
color has changed to a glistening silvery gray, and
in November they go south through the Aleutian
passes, from which they do not return until the
middle of the following August.

The mature cows are not much larger than four-
months-old pups, for they weigh only from fifty to
a hundred pounds. The bulls are very much larger
than the cows, weighing four or five hundred pounds.
They are usually of a rusty red color and have a
bristly mane about two inches long on the back of
the neck. The bulls are very ferocious and do hot
permit intruders on the rookeries until the height
of the breeding season is past. Much quarreling
takes place between neighboring bulls on the breed-
ing grounds, and occasionally a pair fights until the
loser gives up his place and goes to sea.

The seals on the Pribilof Islands are carefully pro-
tected by the United States government. A special

THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY 313

permit is necessary to land on the islands. A census of
the seal population is taken once a year. This is not
as simple a matter as it might seem, for the bulls will
not permit any one on the breeding grounds until
about August 1, and soon afterward the pups begin
swimming. There are more than seven hundred thou-
sand seals to count, and they are widely scattered
over the rocks and beaches of St. Paul and St. George
Islands. If the census is not taken quickly it is of
little value, for the seals will have moved around and
thus may be counted two or more times, or may not
be counted at all.

The number of skins taken annually is set in ad-
vance, so that the animals needed for propagation
will not be killed. Only three-year-old males are killed,
and a breeding reserve of five thousand male seals of
this age is required by law to be set aside. The pur-
pose of these restrictions and regulations is to pro-
tect the seals from disturbance on their breeding
grounds, to prevent the killing of seals by unauthor-
ized persons, and to permit the herd to increase to its
former numbers.

Killing

Inasmuch as one bull may have fifty or more
females in his harem, there is a great surplus of
males over the number actually required to maintain
the herd at its present level. A large number of
young males may therefore be killed without dimin-
ishing the rate of propagation. Killing is done on
land during the breeding season by employees of
the United States Bureau of Fisheries. The young
bachelors who are not permitted by the mature bulls

314 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

to come on the actual breeding grounds play near-by
on the "hauling grounds." From here they are driven
like sheep to the killing fields, which are located some
distance from the rookeries in order to avoid dis-
turbance of the breeding grounds. The animals are
first rendered unconscious by a blow on the head,
and they are then bled. The skin is pulled off after
cutting around the head and flippers and down the
belly. After the adhering blubber has been removed
from the skin, it is salted down, allowed to cure for
ten days, and rolled up into a compact bundle. The
skins are packed into water-tight barrels and shipped
to St. Louis, where they are put through many very
elaborate and complicated processes before becoming
the beautiful fur-seal skins of commerce.

Some of the meat of the seals is eaten by the native
Aleut Indians who live on the islands. The blue foxes
are also fed from the meat of the seal carcasses. The
residue is converted into oil and fertilizer. The oil ob-
tained from the carcasses is shipped to St. Louis and
used in tanning the skins. Until 1915 the seal skins
were all shipped to London, where they were sold at
auction and then tanned, dyed, and finished. In that
year a number of the best seal dressers and dyers of
London came to this country and the industry was
moved to St. Louis. With the British dressers and
dyers as a nucleus, an excellent organization has been
formed. Many researches have been conducted which
have produced a much finer product than had ever
been made before. A strong, thin, light pelt is now
produced which weighs little more than the same area
of the imitation, Hudson seal or dyed muskrat.

THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY 315

Seal skins are classified according to size and are
graded as to quality of fur and condition of the pelt.
The main points considered in determining the
quality of a pelt are silkiness, denseness, and length.
The pelt is also carefully examined for defects which
would offset any good qualities resulting from fine
fur. Good raw skins should be thoroughly cured, free
from all traces of taint, and the flesh side should be
free from any cuts made during skinning. The grad-
ing of seal skins requires great skill and experience.
Few persons are able to grade the skins accurately
before they are dressed and dyed. For this reason the
seal skins are finished before being sold at auction.
This makes the grading much easier, and thus a
much larger number of people are able to bid on the
skins. The buyers are now for the most part manu-
facturers of garments, and as they are experienced in
handling and using finished seal skins, they are capa-
ble of accurately judging the fur in this condition.

Preparation of the Fur

The fur of the seal consists of two kinds of hair:
a soft, downy undergrowth of fur, and a long, coarse,
harsh guard hair. Most fur-bearing animals have two
such kinds of hair in their fur, but the difference
in fineness between the two growths is greater in the
fur-seal than in most other furs.

The first operation in the preparation of the raw
fur is the removal of the outer guard hair. This is
accomplished by placing the pelt on a beam and
then pushing the guard hair off with a curved blunt
knife. The hairs are not cut, but are drawn out by the

316 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

roots; the follicles then close up, thus producing a
smooth velvety fur. The skins of the unhaired furs
are then tanned with seal oil. The oil is painted on
the flesh side of the skins and combines with the skin,
forming a leather resembling the so-called chamois-
skin or leather. The oil is worked into the skins by
working them in a mill ; formerly this operation was
carried out by men treading on the skins with their
bare feet. After the skins are completely tanned, the
surplus of oil is removed by rolling the seal skins
with hardwood sawdust in a mill several times. Be-
tween the runs, the dirty sawdust is shaken out in a
tumbling mill, so that fresh clean sawdust can get
down into the fur and absorb the oil.

The fur is then dyed. The skins are not dipped in
a dye bath, but are brushed first with the mordant
and then with a solution of the dyes. The first dye
used is a vegetable black, which is brushed upon the
upper half of the fur. The final application is a rich
brown vegetable color which is applied the whole
length of the fur from tips to the roots. Thus a half-
brown and half-black fur is produced which finds
such general favor that it is often imitated in other
furs.

The leather of the pelt is still too thick to be used
by the furrier, and so it is reduced in thickness by
buffing on a large revolving cylindrical drum covered
with an abrasive. This operation removes the black
surface of the leather and exposes a light yellow
chamois leather.

The first unhairing process removes only the

THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY 317

coarse hair which is longer than the fur. In addition
to the long coarse guard hairs, the pelt contains
many short coarse hairs which must be removed be-
fore the final finishing operation. For the removal
of these hairs, the seal skin is passed several times
through a machine consisting of an ingenious
arrangement of air-blasts, combs, and revolving
knives. In passing through the machine, the pelt is
bent sharply over a dull knife-edge, and the downy
fur is parted and blown down by the blast of com-
pressed air. The short coarse hairs, because of their
relative stiffness, are not blown down by the
blast but stick up and are clipped off by the
revolving knives. This operation greatly im-
proves the softness and smoothness of the fur.
The final finishing operation consists of working
the pelt into an extremely soft and pliable condition
and setting the fur so that all the strands lie parallel.
The finished skins are now sold at public auction by
the government and are ready to be made into gar-
ments. The efforts of the United States Bureau of
Fisheries to conserve the fur-seal have greatly in-
creased the potential supply of this fur and have
thereby reduced the cost. Perhaps some day it may
be no more expensive than its imitation, Hudson seal.

Hair-Seals and Sea-Lions

There are fifteen species of hair-seals, two species
of sea-elephants, and five species of sea-lions which
are valued for their blubber, from which oil is made.
Since leather has become very valuable^ the skins arq

818 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

now also utilized in the manufacture of seal leather.
This operation has already been considered in Chap-
ter XII.

Hair-seals are like sheep in their peaceful social
instincts. They are gregarious, at least during the
breeding season — patient and submissive, harmless to
man, and fond of basking in the sunshine while out
of the water. Their affection for their young is
almost human. On land they are very clumsy and
awkward, as their flippers can hardly touch the
ground. But in the water they swim with grace and
ease, and are able to stay under the surface for
several minutes. Their food consists of fishes, crus-
taceans, and moUusks.

Although the hair-seal industry is almost a thing
of the past — for the seals have nearly been extermi-
nated— more than a hundred thousand seals are still
taken annually. The only important sealing grounds
now are in the North Atlantic off the coasts of New-
foundland, Labrador, and Greenland. Many of the
sealers sail from St. John's, Newfoundland. One fa-
mous sealing-vessel, the Terra Nova, has already
taken many more than a million seals. Single trips
have brought her owners a hundred thousand dollars'
worth of seal oil. As late as 1924 she took oil valued
at eighty thousand dollars. But the glory of the
sealer is gone, for such trips are the exception, and
often the vessels do not make expenses. The Terra
Nova is a historic ship. In 1905 she brought Scott
and Shackleton back from the Antarctic, and in 1909
she carried Scott on his ill fated expedition to the

THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY 319

South Pole. She is a bark-rigged, three-masted
steamer of four hundred tons, carrying 160 men for
a sealing crew. She is an old-timer, for she was built
in Scotland in 1884.

The crews of the sealers are hardy, adventurous
men, since they are continually beset with perils and
hardships. The seals are usually hunted on ice-floes
where a misstep means a plunge into icy water. The
most common weapons used in hunting seals are rifles
and clubs. The killing is in most cases little more than
butchery, for most species of seals are dull-witted
creatures that are not greatly disturbed by the
approach of the hunter. The bladder-nose seal and
the saddleback are exceptions to this rule and are so
wary that they are approached with difficulty. These
seals are usually taken with a rifle. Nets, seal boxes,
seal hooks, and harpoons are also used for the cap-
ture of seals.

Formerly seal oil was prepared by stripping the
blubber from the seal and placing it in large tanks
where it was allowed to decompose. From time to
time, the oil, liberated by the decomposition of the
tissues, was drained from the tank. After about three
months, the remaining decomposed fatty mass was
boiled with water to render the remainder of the oil.
Such a procedure was very crude and produced a
very poor quality of oil. Now the oil is obtained by
treating fresh minced blubber with live steam in large
inclosed tanks. The oil and water emulsion obtained
in this way is separated by passing it through a
series of settling tanks. The finished product is
termed steam-refined oil. Upon cooling to low tem-

320 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

peratures, fresh seal oil deposits stearin. This is re-
moved by filtration, and the product is known as
racked seal oil.

Seal oils resemble cod-liver oil in composition and
properties, and for this reason are often used as
adulterants of medicinal cod-liver oil. Chemically it
is difficult to distinguish between seal oil and the liver
oils. Cod-liver oil, however, contains a much larger
quantity of fat-soluble vitamines and is therefore
much more valuable for medicinal purposes. Seal oils
are used in the tanning of hides and pelts, in the
currying of leather, in the manufacture of degras
and sod oil, in soap making, and sometimes as burn-
ing oils for the lights of lighthouses.

Walruses

The walrus and the polar bear are the animal
monarchs of the Arctic. Polar bears are often able to
kill young walruses, but when a bear attacks a full-
grown walrus he is sure to get the worst of it. An
adult walrus weighs a ton or more and is about fifteen
feet in length. While a walrus is stupidly slow on ice,
in the water he is perfectly at home and is able to
defend himself against all comers with his two power-
ful tusks projecting downward from the upper jaw,
which are admirably adapted to slashing and goring.

For downright daring, few sports compare with
walrus hunting as practised by the Eskimos of North
Greenland. They hunt in a kayak, a native one-man
canoe made of seal skins stretched over a light
wooden frame. The little boat, which is about
eighteen feet in length, is decked over all, excepting

^^^

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.^^"^ >

Mf ;

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i^^;

'.. '>■•■■ 4

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Phoco by E. C. Johnston

A GROUP OF FUR-SEAL COWS

On the Vostochni Rookery, St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands,

Alaska

Photo by H. F. Moore

SHEEPSWOOL SPONGE FROM FLORIDA

The production of these sponges constitutes over ninety per
ant of the sponge production of the United States

THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY 321

a cockpit amidships. Here the Eskimo sits, his legs
extended forward beneath the skin deck, with a sort
of apron of hide fastened around the edge of the
cockpit and secured tightly about his waist so that no
water can get in. He uses a double-bladed paddle,
dipping first on one side and then the other.

With this primitive fragile craft the Eskimos go
after their walrus. The danger is evident when one
considers that one swipe of a walrus's tusks can
smash the kayak and finish the hunter's career.
Nevertheless the Eskimos have nerve and never
falter; they paddle their kayaks behind a herd of
walruses until they get close enough to hurl a har-
poon into the broad back of one of them. The har-
poon head carries a line of walrus hide, the other end
of which is fastened to a bladder float. When the
harpoon strikes the walrus, he usually turns and
madly charges the float, which is so light that it
bounces away as soon as it is struck. The Eskimo
hunter is wise enough to keep out of reach of the
wildly charging beast and waits for the wounded
animal to tire. Eventually, when this occurs, the
Eskimo comes close to the beast and finishes him
with a thrust of his lance. Sometimes the hunt does
not end so happily for the Eskimo ; the walrus may
manage to charge the canoe and destroy it, or the
other members of the herd may come to the aid of
the wounded one and force the hunter to flee for
his life.

In 1870 white men began hunting for walruses in
the far north, using rifles, and since then they have
more than decimated the great herds of walruses

322 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

which formerly inhabited the frozen northland.
Many of those which were shot in the water sank and
could not be recovered. For this reason they were
more easily captured while on the ice. Often an entire
herd, found asleep on the ice, would be caught un-
awares and annihilated. Walruses are so near-
sighted, they do not see the hunters, and if the marks-
manship of the shooter is good, so that the animals
are instantly killed, the others pay little attention to
the reports of the gun. The bellowing of wounded
animals at once scares the whole herd into the water.
Their scent is much keener than their sight; when
the hunters are on the windward side, the walruses
are disturbed by the scent of the men, even though
they are some distance away.

From 1870 to 1880, the height of the walrus in-
dustry was reached; the Pacific fleet captured 100,-
000 walruses, producing 400,000 pounds of ivory
and 2,000,000 gallons of oil. Now the walrus has be-
come so scarce that he is protected by law in many
parts of the north. Such protection cannot prevent
the natives from killing whatever animals they re-
quire for food, but it does keep the sealers from hunt-
ing them in the forbidden regions.

After a walrus has been killed, the hide with the
blubber is stripped off the carcass. The blubber is
then removed from the hide, and the ivory tusks are
cut off. The blubber is usually converted into oil in
a try-pot. The strips of blubber are first minced, or
cut into small pieces about a half-inch thick. These
are placed in the pot, which is then heated over an

THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY ggs

open fire until the oil has been cooked out. The pot
jnus be well stirred and slowly heated to prevent L
blubber from st.clung. About twenty gallons of oil
are obtained from a walrus. The oil is used for many
ot the purposes for which seal oil is used

Walrus ivory is much inferior to elephant ivory in
that rt becomes yeUow with age and the tusk con-
tarns a large core of little value. The tusks of the
female are smaller than those of the male, but are of
finer texture and have fewer cracks

CHAPTER XVIII

Sponges and the Sponge Industry

The sponge is not, as you suppose,
A funny kind of weed;
He lives below the deep blue sea,
An animal like you and me,
Though not so good a breed.

And when the sponges go to sleep.
The fearless diver dives ;
He prongs them with a cruel prongs
And, what I think is rather wrong,
He also prongs their wives.

I know you'd rather not believe
Such dreadful things are done;
Alas, alas, it is the case;
And every time you wash your face,
You use a skeleton.

So that is why I seldom wash.
However black I am,
But use my flannel, if I must.
Though even that, to be quite just.
Was once a little lamb.^

Although the silly little poem at the head of this

chapter is very short, and is intended to be merely

a bit of humor, it tells much about the sponge and

something of sponge fishing. For the sponge of com-

^A.P.H. in "Punch," 1921.

324

SPONGES AND THE SPONGE INDUSTRY 325

merce is merely the skeleton of a curious animal that
lives in the sea. Sponges have been taken by divers
in the Mediterranean Sea since prehistoric times.
Sponges and their utilization in the arts were known
to the ancient Greeks. Their use is mentioned several
times by Homer.

Glaucus of Anthedon, one of the characters of
Grecian mythology, was a sponge diver. Many mar-
velous tales are told of this fisherman, boat builder,
sailor, and warrior. He is said to have constructed the
Argo of the Argonauts, which carried Jason in
search of the Golden Fleece. When Jason fought the
Tyrians, Glaucus was the only one who was not
wounded. Glaucus excelled in diving, and is said to
have been able to remain on the bottom a very long
time. Palaephatus relates a mythical tale of how
Glaucus once dived into a tempestuous sea and swam
to the bottom, where he spent several days with
Oceanus, returning later with many fish that he had
caught while on the bottom. Later, Glaucus dived to
the bottom and never returned. His comrades thought
that he preferred to live in the sea and attributed
supernatural powers to him, placing him with the
deity.

Aristotle tells much about sponges and the methods
of sponge fishing employed in his time. He even
describes briefly a diving apparatus by means of
which air from the surface was furnished the diver
on the sea bottom, apparently a tube with an
arrangement for pumping down air. The soldiers in
the Roman army were supplied with sponges, which
they used for two purposes : they were placed inside

326 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

the knee-shields to prevent the knees from becom-
ing cut; moreover they were used instead of a cup
for drinking while on marches. This explains why the
Roman soldier gave a sponge soaked in vinegar to
Christ during the crucifixion.

The Industry

As indicated above, sponge fishing was first prac-
tised in the Mediterranean, where it originated in the
eastern part of the sea and was followed by the
Greeks in the ^gean. The field of operations was
gradually extended to the African coast and the
central Mediterranean. A race of daring and hardy
divers has been developed which has earned its live-
lihood in the sponge fishery for more than twenty
centuries. Curiously these sponge fishers continue
their work in the same districts wher^ their ancestors
fished in ancient times. Symi, the principal market of
to-day, was a sponge market in the days of Glaucus.
This is probably the only industry that has been
carried on continuously in one location by one people
throughout ancient, medieval, and modern times.

Until 1841 the entire world's sponge supply came
from the Mediterranean. In that year a French
sponge merchant who had been shipwrecked in the
Bahamas in the vicinity of Nassau was attracted by
the quality of the sponges found in these islands,
and shipped a trial lot to Paris. From this small
beginning the production of sponges in the Bahamas
has steadily grown until now more than a million
pounds are exported annually. Large quantities of
grass, wool, velvet, reef, hardhead, yellow, and glove

SPONGES AND THE SPONGE INDUSTRY 327

sponges are taken in the sponge fields around these
islands.

In 1849 the fishery extended to Florida. The initial
shipment was sold in New York, but it narrowly
missed being thrown away as worthless. The develop-
ment of this fishery was very slow indeed, probably
because of the low price of the product. But with the
introduction of divers in 1905, and the discovery of
sponges of better quality, the industry has grown
until now the annual value of the raw product is
about a million dollars. The bulk of the product con-
sists of sheepswool sponges. The Cuban sponge
fishery became of importance in 1884< when im-
portant sponge beds were discovered between the
main island and the Isle of Pines. Batabano is the
center of the sponge fishery.

Few persons except those who have lived on the
shores of a tropical sea would recognize a common
bath sponge if they were to see it in its natural
environment. In fact many would mistake it for a
piece of raw beef liver, for it is a fleshy body, slimy
to the touch, varying in color from grayish yellow
through various shades of brown to black. All shapes
and sizes are found, depending upon the species, age,
and habitat.

A living sponge has a skin which is raised at in-
tervals into blunt little cones, and perforated by
pores that lead to canals running into the interior.
The walls of the canals are punctured by innumer-
able minute holes, each of which leads into a tiny
pear-shaped chamber and thence into another canal

328 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

which leads to a vent or opening in the skin. Water
carrying food and oxygen enters the pores and is
drawn through the canals to the pear-shaped cham-
ber and then expelled through the vents.

Relatively little is known concerning the life of the
sponge. The young sponges which are hatched from
eggs are minute free-swimming organisms. When
still very small, they settle to the bottom and attach
themselves to some solid object, where they live the
rest of their lives. The shape, size, and outward
appearance of a sponge depends to a large extent
upon its environment. Sponges transplanted to
different waters often change their general
characteristics. Many sponges can tolerate exposure
to the air for considerable periods and thus are able
to grow at the low-water mark. They are found in
water up to six hundred feet in depth.

The skeleton of the commercial sponge consists
chiefly of spongin, a protein related to conchiolin,
which is found in the shells of moUusks, and fibroin
and sericin, the principal constituents of silk. Cer-
tain compounds of sponges contain a relatively large
amount of iodine in organic combination.

Methods of Fishing *

Probably the earliest method of taking sponges
was that of hooking or cutting them from the bot-
tom while wading in shallow water along the sea-
shore. Even to-day in the southern part of Tunisia
the natives follow a similar method, wading until they
find a sponge, detaching it with their toes, and then
kicking it within reach of their hands.

SPONGES AND THE SPONGE INDUSTRY 329

Nude diving has always been one of the most im-
portant methods of taking sponges in the Mediter-
ranean. The natives of Calymnos and Symi are expert
divers, and some are said to be able to descend to the
great depth of a hundred feet. They ordinarily work
under water about two minutes at a time, but a few
of the more expert can remain on the bottom for four
minutes. 'Nude diving is also practised by the
Syrians, Tripolitans, and Tunisians.

To enable them to reach the bottom quickly, the
divers carry flat stones attached to a line. As soon
as the diver reaches the bottom, he drops the stone
but either retains hold of the line or has it attached
to his wrist by a short lanyard. The diver quickly
detaches all the sponges within his reach. When he
can remain under water no longer, he jerks on the
rope and is rapidly drawn to the surface by his
attendant in the boat. After resting for twenty or
thirty minutes he makes another trip to the bottom.

Solon Pelecanos tells an extraordinary tale that
rivals that of Jonah and the whale and is so remark-
able that it may be of interest :

It happened that a diver named Latari, from the
island of Calymnos, on a certain day, although he
could not see clearly through the water, took the stone
and plunged. The man who held the rope in the boat
perceived that the rope was not drawn by the diver,
and, on looking into the water, to his horror saw a huge
shark which had swallowed the diver. Fortunately for
the latter the large flat stone which he held in his
hands proved perhaps too much for the shark, and he
immediately vomited his victim, who was instantly
drawn up to the boat by the rope holder alive. He

880 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

had received severe wounds on both sides of his body
from the teeth of the shark. He was removed at once
to a hospital at a neighboring port for a month, and
then was sent to his native island where his convales-
cence lasted three months. This may seem an incred-
ible story, but it is a true one. The man still lives in
the island of Calymnos and still follows his dangerous
profession. One of the two doctors who attended him
was Dr. A. Pelecanos, since dead, who was the father
of the narrator of the incident.

Nude diving requires great skill and training from
youth but is not as hazardous as diving in suits or
scaphanders ; but neither is it so productive, for the
machine diver can work on the bottom a much greater
portion of the day. The diving-suit or scaphander
was introduced into the sponge fisheries of the
^gean Sea and the Levant about 1866 and has been
a very important and productive adjunct of fishing
ever since. Divers dressed in suits can explore much
greater depths than most of those that work without
suits, and so their use vastly extends the available
sponging grounds. The use of diving-suits in the
pearl fisheries has already been described; the
suits used in sponge fishing and the methods em-
ployed are similar.

The hazards of machine diving are not caused by
failures of the pump or life-line, or by the presence
of sharks, but because of the deleterious physiologi-
cal results of the changes of air pressure on the
body. Sooner or later the divers get the bends, or
caisson disease, which often leads to paralysis.

Harpooning, or hooking, is a method of taking
sponges commonly practised in shallow water. The

SPONGES AND THE SPONGE INDUSTRY 331

harpooner or hooker peers through a water telescope,
merely a bucket-like instrument with a glass bottom,
until he sees a marketable sponge, and then, using a
long harpoon or hook, tears the sponge from its
anchorage and raises it to the surface. The European
fishermen use various types of harpoons for the pur-
pose. The instrument of ancient times was a trident
with a relatively short handle, and differs from those
used to-day chiefly in the length of the handle. The
instrument now used by the Tunisian fishermen has
only two straight barbed points, whereas the one
used by the Greeks has four. In Florida and the
Bahamas the instruments used have curved prongs
and thus resemble hooks rather than harpoons. Hook-
ing is the only method of taking sponges permitted
by law in the Bahamas.

In the Mediterranean large quantities of sponges
are taken by the less picturesque method of dredging
or trawling. The gangava of the Greeks, or gagova
or cana of the Italians, is a special dredge which
has been developed for this fishery. It is employed
only on smooth bottoms, for the frame and net are
likely to catch on rough rocks, but it can be used in
all seasons except during storms.

Preparation of Sponges for Market

Early methods of preparing the sponges for
market were rather crude. The live sponges were
allowed to lie on the deck of the boats until killed by
prolonged exposure to the air, after which they were
placed in inclosures built in shallow water until the
fleshy part of the sponges rotted. They were then

332 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

removed from the water, beaten with a club, and
squeezed repeatedly under water until all the fleshy
matter was removed, leaving only the skeleton.

A somewhat more scientific procedure is now em-
ployed. The live sponges are placed on deck, and,
after being killed by continuous treading under the
bare feet of the crew, they are strung and then hung
over the side of the boat for some time. Then they
are thoroughly washed on deck in tubs of sea-water.
The cleaned sponges are strung on cords six feet
long. The ends of the cord are tied together, thus
forming a wreath or bunch. When the bunches of
sponges are partially dried, they are sold in lots at
auction to the dealers. The wholesalers trim the
sponges with sheep shears, removing the irregulari-
ties, torn parts, and foreign bodies, such as shells
and pieces of coral. They are then graded as to size,
color, and quality, and packed in bales for shipment.

Some sponges are bleached by treatment with a
mineral acid, potassium permanganate, and oxalic
acid. The bleached sponges are washed in a wash-
ing-soda solution to neutralize any acid that may
remain, and finally are thoroughly washed in water
to rinse out any chemical that may be left. Bleached
sponges are somewhat more attractive in appearance
but are less durable than those which have not been
bleached.

There are many commercial varieties of sponges.
Dealers in different localities may classify sponges
differently, but the following varieties are generally
recognized as the most important: sheepswool or

SPONGES AND THE SPONGE INDUSTRY 333

wool, yellow, velvet, grass, glove, wire, reef, hard-
head, Turkey cup, Turkey solid, Turkey toilet,
zimocca, honeycomb or bath, and elephant-ear. Of
these the Turkey solid and Turkey cup, which are
produced in the eastern Mediterranean, are the
finest and softest, and two of the most elastic sponges
known to commerce. The massive ones are known as
solids, and the cup-shaped ones as cups. Honeycomb
or bath sponges are also important Mediterranean
sponges. They are very soft but are not especially
durable.

The sheepswool is the most important American
sponge, constituting about ninety per cent of the
value of the American product. When unbleached it
is used for washing automobiles, railroad cars, and
other vehicles; by painters, decorators, potters,
tanners, tile and brick layers; and for other pur-
poses. Bleached wool sponges are utilized principally
for the bath and other household purposes.

Sponges up to eight inches in diameter are com-
monly used entire and are called forms, whereas
larger ones or those that are irregular or torn are
usually divided into pieces called cuts. The more
valuable sponges are regular in form and of fair size.
Some are spheroidal, some are cake-shaped, and
others are conical or cupped.

Light colored sponges are more valuable than
dark ones, although intrinsically there may be no
difference. Naturally light sponges are more valu-
able than bleached ones. For most purposes soft
sponges are desired? and therefore soft gnes com-

334 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA

mand the highest price, other considerations being
equal. Fine-textured sponges are more valuable than
coarse ones.

American sponges are not only classified as to the
place where they were taken but also into forms, cuts,
and seconds. Mediterranean sponges are usually sub-
divided into "fines," "commons," "seconds" or "re-
jects," "plongees," "harponees," etc. Sponges taken
by harpooning and hooking often are torn, and for
this reason they may not be so valuable; therefore
the method used in fishing is often mentioned in the
classification.

INDEX

Abalone, canned, 253-254

drying of, 253

fishery for, 252-253

mother-of-pearl from, 110

industry, California, 252-254
Acetone, manufacture from

kelp, 69-70
Agar, composition of, 88-89

manufacture of, 86-89

use as food, 82, 89

uses, 89
Alaska, fisheries, 158-160, 203

salmon canning industry of,
203
Alewives, salting of, 192
Algse, burning of, 63, 68

distillation of, 64-65, 68

manufacture of iodine from,
50-69

nature of, 24, 61

use as cattle feed, 74

use as size, 72-74

utilization of, 32-33, 59-89
Algin, manufacture of, 69-72

nature of, 70-72
Amanori, manufacture of, 83-
84

use as food, 83-84
Ambergris, 41, 305
Amino acids, of fish proteins,
175

B

Blanc-mange, use of, 81
Blister pearls, nature of, 110

utilization of, 110-111
Bloaters, preparation of, 198
Brine freezing, fish, 184
Bureau of Fisheries, conserva-
tion of fur-seals, 309-313

Cameos, coral, 126-127

pearl shell, 109
Canada, fisheries of, 154, 258,

265
Chank, use in India, 94, 109-110
Chiton, 256

Clam chowder, preparation of,
248
extract, preparation of, 248
industry, 37, 241-248
canning of, 247-248
culture of, 243-244
fishery methods, 244-247
hard, fishery, 245-246
life history of, 243
production in America, 242
razor, fishery for, 247
soft, digging of, 245
species of, 242-243
Cockle, 256

Cod, early importance of, 28-29
salting of, 188-191
salting of, hard dried, 191
Cod-liver oil, hydrogenation of,
219
manufacture of, 218-220
vitamine content, 178-179, 220
Cold storage, of fish, 183-185
Coral, fishery for, 117-127
medicinal value of, 117-119
precious, composition of, 121-
122
grading of, 125
nature of, 119-122
utilization of, 125-127
superstitions concerning, 117-
119
Coral fisheries, importance in
history, 119
Italian methods, 123-124
Japanese methods, 124-125

335

S36

INDEX

Cosmetics, from whale, 304-305
Crabs, American fishery for,
265-273

blue, classification of, 269-270
marketing of, 270-271

canning of, 272

fishery for, 268-269

life history of, 266-268

species of, 266, 272
Crinoids, fossil, 21-22

living, 21-22

D

Deep-sea animals, nature of, 24-

25
Depth finder, use of, 7
Devil-fish, utilization of, 256
Dolphin-jaw oil, 307-308

oil, manufacture of, 307-308
Dolphins, 307
Donax, 256
Dried fish, preparation of, 200-

202
Dugongs, 307-308
Dulse, use as food, 81-82

E

Eel-grass, use of, 75-76

Eggs, fish, 148-150

Eskimo, walrus hunt, 320-321

F

Fat, fish, nutritive value of, 173-

174
Fertilizer, use of fish scrap as,
221-222
use of seaweeds as, 73-74
use of whale scrap as, 302
Finnan baddies, preparation of,

199
Fish, air-bladders of, 140
Fish, canning, 35-36, 182, 202-
210
mackerel, 210
salmon, 202-207
sardines, 207-209
tuna, 209-210
cbaracteristics of, 129-141
cold storage of, 183-185

Fish, color of, 17-18, 141

at various depths, 17-18
composition of, 172-174, 175-

176, 177-180
digestibility of, 174
digestive systems of, 140
drying, 200-202
eggs of, 147-150
eyes of, 137-138
fins of, 133-135
food of, 141-143
form of, 129-131
freezing, 183-185
gills of, 139
hearing of, 138
life history of, 128-152
migrations of, 145-147
mineral constituents of, 175-

176
mouths of, 135-136
nature of, 128-152
nutritive value of, 171-181

iodine content, 177-178

vitamine content, 178-181
preservation, 182-211
reproduction of, 147-150
salting of, 185-192

alewives, 192

cod, 188-191

herring, 187-188

location of industrv, 186-
188

methods, 187

salmon, 192
scales of, 132-133
sense of smell, 138
smoking of, 192-199

haddock, 199

herring, 193-199
teeth of, 136, 137
Fisheries, ancient importance of,
26-28, 153-154
by-products of, 29-31, 36, 212-

229
Canadian, 154, 258, 265
conservation of, 151-152, 258
importance of, 35-42, 153-170
Japanese, 155
Newfoundland, 154
of United Kingdom, 154
Fishery methods, gill nets, 168
hand-line, 161-165

INDEX

SS7

Fishery methods, long line, 1 Gi-
les
otter-trawl, 165-166
paranzella nets, 166
pound nets, 166-168
purse seine, 169
seines, 168-169
traps, 166-168
Fish glue, manufacture, 223-^5
properties, 223-225
uses of, 31, 225
Fishing, as a business, 169-170
Fishing banks, Alaskan, 158,
160
American, location of, 157-160
Brown's, 158
Georges, 157-158
Newfoundland, 157
Fishing grounds, location, 156-

161
Fishing lines, manufacture from

Nereocystis, 73
Fish meal, manufacture of, 221-

223
Fish oil, manufacture of, 214-
218
properties of, 217-218
uses of, 29-30, 218
Fish roe, phosphorus content of,

176
Fish scrap, manufacture, 221-
223
value of, 221-223
Fish skins, tanning of, 222-228
Fish traps, use of, 166-168
Fish weirs, use of, 166-167
Funori, manufacture of, 72-73
Fur, preparation of fur-seal,

314-317
Fur-seals, 309-323

conservation of, 309-313
kiUing of, 313-314
life history of, 311-312
skins, preparation of, 314-317

H

Haddock, salting of, 191-192

smoking of, 199
Hair-seal oil, manufacture of,
318-320
skin, tanning of, 229
Hair-seals, 317-320

capture of, 318-319
Hawk's-bill turtle, fishery for,

282-283
Herring, salting of, 187-188
Scotch-cure, 187-188
smoking, 193-199
bloaters, 198
^Tcippering," 198-199
preparation of boneless, 197
red, 194-197
Hook-and-line fishery, methods,
161-165

Iodine, in algae, 59-69, 79

in fish, 177-178

importance of, 59, 64

manufacture of, 32, 59-69

use of, 64
Irish moss, manufacture in
America, 80-81

use as food, 81
Isinglass, manufacture, 2S5-226

properties, 225-226
Ivory, walrus, 323

Kanten, see agar

Kelp, fermentation of, 69-70

Pacific coast beds, 65-67

species of, 66-67

utilization of, 65-70
Kombu, manufacture of, 84-85

use as food, 84-85

Gill nets, use of, 168
Gloucester, Massachusetts, fish

salting in, 188-191
Guanine, in pearl essence, 111-

115

Laminaria, use as food, 84-85
Lobster, American industry.
257-265

canning of, 265

fishery, history of, 258-259

888

INDEX

Lobster , life history of, 259-262
marketing of, 264-265
methods of the fishery, 262-

265
traps for, 262-263

M

Mackerel, canning, 210
Magnesium oxychloride cement,

use of, 57
Marinated fish, preparation of,

210-211
Meal, use of fish scrap as, 221-

223
Menhaden, capture of, 214-216
oil, manufacture of, 214-217
scrap, manufacture of, 214-
217, 221-223
Mother-of-pearl, see also pearl
shell
composition of, 94-98
nature of, 94-96
Murlins, use as food, 82

N

Natica, 256

Noachman, preparation of, 78

O

Ocean, see sea

Oceanography, importance of,

4-5
Otter-trawl, fishery, 165-166
Oyster, American production,
230-231

canning, 240

cookery, 239

culture, 233-236

enemies of, 234-235

European, 230

fishery, 236-237

life history, 231-232

marketing of, 237-238

shells, use, 240-241

shucking, 238

Paper, manufacture from sea-
weeds, 74-75

Pearl buttons, manufacture of,
108-9
culture, Japanese, 103-105
essence, manufacture of, 111-
115
nature of, 111-115
fisheries, diving, 99-102
location, 99-105
methods, 98-105
shell, classification of, 107-8
composition of, 94-98
fLsheries, see pearl fisheries
nature of, 94-96
use of scaphanders, 101-103
utilization, 106-109
Pearls, blister, see blister pearls
composition of, 96-98
cultured, 103-105
evaluation of, 105-106
historical, 90-93
imitation, detection of, 116
indestructible, 113-114, 116
manufacture of, 111-115
nature of, 111-116
nature of, 94-96
origin of, 96-98
Roman, 115

use in early Egypt, 91-92
use in early Rome, 92
utilization, 106-109
Periwinkle, Q56
Piddock, 256
Plankton, nature of, 25
Pollution, of waters, eff^ect on

fish life, 143-145
Porphyra, cultivation of, 83

use as food, 82-84
Porpoise leather, preparation of,
229
jaw oil, manufacture of, 307-
308
Porpoises, 307
Porpoise oil, manufacture of,

307-308
Posidonia Australia, use of,

75
Potash, manufacture, from algae,
59-71
manufacture, from bittern, 58
Pribilof Islands, discovery of,
309

INDEX

S39

Protein, fish, 173-175
Purse seine, use of, 169

R

Russian sardines, preparation
of, 210-211

s

Salmon, canning, 202-207

fisheries, Alaskan, 160-161

life history of, 204-206

oil, manufacture of, 217

Pacific, species of, 203-204

salting, 192
Salt, ancient importance of, 44

bittern, use of, 57-58

by-products, 57-58

grainer, 56

manufacture of, 31-32, 45-58
in California, 52-58
in Europe, 49-51
in Orient, 46-49

mines, 45

purity of, 46-47, 55

refining of, 55-57

rock formation of, 46

uses of, 44-47, 55-56

vacuum pan, 56-57

wells, 45^6
Salts, in sea, 10-14, 21
Sardine, canning, 207-209

California industry, 208-

209
Maine industry, 207-208
oil, manufacture of, 217
Scallop industry, 248-251
Scallops, fishery for, 250-251

marketing of, 251

species of, 249
Scaphanders, use in pearl fish-
ery, 101-102

use in sponge fishing, 330
Sea, area of, 5-6

color of, 16

currents, 8-9, 18-21

depth of, 6-7

life, 21-25, 35, 128-152

light in, 16-17

mussels, culture of, 254-255

utilization of, 254-255
nature of, 3-25
pressure in, 14-16, 24-25
salinity of, 10-14, 52
temperature of, 8-10
tides, 18-19
volume of, 7-8
waves, 19

water, composition of, 10-14
gases in, 13-14
Seal oils, properties of, 320
Seaweed glue, manufacture of,
72-73
uses of, 73
sauce, preparation of, 78
cultivation of, in Japan, 83
nutritive value of, 79-80
use as food, 77-«9
in Hawaii, 86
in Japan, 83-89
in manufacture of paper,
74-75
Seines, use of, 168-169
Shark leather, utilization of, 228
capture of, 227
liver oil, uses, 220-221
skin, tanning of, 226-228
Shell-fish, nutritive value of,

171-181
Shell-fisheries, importance of, 37-

39, 230-231
Shrimp, canning of, 275
drying of, 276-277
fishery for, 273-277
marketing of, 274-277
Size, seaweed, 72-74
Skate-liver oil, manufacture, 221
Smoke-houses, construction of,

196
Sodium alginate, uses of, 71-72
Sperm oil, manufacture of, 304
Sponge fishing, history of, 325-
327
methods, 328-331
harpooning, 330-331
nude diving, 329-330
Sponges, bleaching of, 332
classification of, 332-334
nature of, 327-328

840

INDEX

Sponges, preparation for mar-
ket, 331-332
varieties of, 332-334
Squid, utilization of, 255-256
Suckawhock, manufacture from
clam shells, 241-242

Terrapin, diamond-back, cul-
ture, 285-288
fishery, 285-289
Tides, cause of, 18-19
Tortoise-shell, manufacture of,

282-284
Tuna, canning, 209-210
Turtle, green, 280-282
habits of, 278-280
Kemp's, 284
leathery, 284-285
loggerhead, 284
Tyrian purple, ancient manu-
facture, 26

Vitamines, fish, 175, 178-180,
220

W

Walrus oil, manufacture of,
322-323

Walruses, 320-323

capture of, 320-322

ivory from, 323

skin, tanning of, 229
Wampum, use of, 26, 241-242
Whale, blue, 298

bowhead, 298

finback, 298-299

Greenland right, 299

humpback, 298-299

meat, butchering of, 301-302

oil, hydrogenation of, 303
manufacture, early meth-
ods, 292-293
modern methods, 302-303

North Atlantic right, 298-299

scrap, manufacture of, 302-
303

sei, 298-300

sperm, 298-300

sulphur-bottom, 298
Whalebone, manufacture of,
306
nature of, 305-306
Whales, nature of, 296-300

species of, 298-300

toothed, 297-300
Whaling, 290-306

history of, 290-295

importance of, 40-41, 290-293

modern methods of, 293-295
Whelk, 256